They Will Never Leave!

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

I currently work as a school nurse, but stayed on PRN at the hospital where I worked for four years. Our hospital just recently installed touchscreen computers in every patient room. These computers have access to the internet including Facebook, Skype, Netflix, etc. all for FREE! I don't even have Netflix at my house. Am I the only one that thinks this is a bad idea. I am all for making the patient feel more comfortable during their hospital stay, but we already have a problem with patients not wanting to be discharged even though they have been medically cleared. Not only that but trying to get any information out of a patient with a 19 inch computer screen in their face is like trying to pull teeth! It seems we are becoming more and more like a hotel that a hospital every day.

[smf0903]

Our hospital has smart TVs with cable and Internet access. As a plus to this, we also have programmable educational videos accessible on the TVs (which is super nice!). We have very few patients who would rather stay in hospital versus going home. We also have room service versus everyone-gets-practically-the-same-meal-at-x,y,z-hours. Kinda blew my mind when I started, but I've found that these are nice amenities for the patients. The ones who want to stay are repeaters who would want to stay regardless of what we have/don't have lol.

[No Stars In My Eyes]

Gosh, imagine! If there was a maitre d' on each hospital floor, the nurses might actually be free to practice their professions!

[RNperdiem, RN]

One bit of manners I was firm about when my teenage son was in hospital was this- when a member of the healthcare team- doctor, nurse, aide, PT, etc walks into your room, you turn off the TV, close your laptop, pause your game and give them your full attention.

Sometimes I think we need to give our patients a bit of basic training. When I do an assessment, I turn off the TV. How can I hear bowel sounds otherwise? They can turn it back on when I am done.

In ICU, it is a sign that a patient is ready for a transfer out when they can capably use electronic devices. We had a patient taking selfies of himself in his hospital bed. Yup, he is ready to be transferred out.