TV in the ED

Specialties Emergency

Published

We are re-designing our ED. It has been suggested to put TV's in the patient rooms. I am against the idea as our ED is disrupted enough and feel that TV's will encourage more visitors at bedside (always a problem) and loudness issues.

Does anybody else out there have TV's in the ED exam rooms? How do you manage any problems with noise, crowds, etc?

Thanks.

Andrew B

We have them mounted on wall for most of our slots. They are a great distractor and I do not see an increase in visitors becasue of them Big events such as the super-bowl are "locked-out" in the waiting room tv..don't need to have verbal outcries over the game...

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Just my in-put...love the tv's in the ed..makes a world of difference to the Pt's. As a Pt I love it too!!!

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How about video entitled: "What is an emergency and what is not."

"Where the money from your visit comes from"

"Think this visit is free?"

LOL

Sounds like a great idea.

I know if I have one more patient tell me:

"Well, they do ( fill in the blank) on ER. Why can't you do it?

My response: ER is not a reality show. It's make believe.

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Have been in EDs with and EDs without. The one that did have TVs in the exam rooms had small TVs on an arm that would easily fold out of the way if needed and were small enough that they didn't put out tooooooo much in the way of noise. They seemed to provide some distraction and were definately more interesting than the 3 year old magazines that were left in the rack near the door:rolleyes: .

The ED without TVs was a small hospital and they probably couldn't afford them.

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We have individual TVs in our ER spots. Since I am in a family way with a sick kid it has made him feel better and kept his little bother and I have to admit me as well entertained while we had to wait to see an MD, etc. :)

We are re-designing our ED. It has been suggested to put TV's in the patient rooms. I am against the idea as our ED is disrupted enough and feel that TV's will encourage more visitors at bedside (always a problem) and loudness issues.

Does anybody else out there have TV's in the ED exam rooms? How do you manage any problems with noise, crowds, etc?

Thanks.

Andrew B

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We have them in all our rooms but our trauma room and our psych room.

When people are in thoise rooms they are way pissed off that they don't have a TV like everyone else!

This being the Land of Press-Ganey (or was it OZ!!??!!)...

TVs are now a staple in EDs across the land.

What's next...bedside internet access?!!?

:rolleyes:

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I work in an urgent care that sometimes seems like a mini ER. Unfortunitly, we have patients waitinf for as much as 5 hours sometimes. We just got a TV in the waiting room and it is amazing the difference it makes. I also spent an evening in the ER a few weeks ago. There was a TV in the exam room. It was a huge blessing.

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Specializes in LTC, MDS/careplans, Unit Manager.

my daughter has to see a peds cardiologist on a yearly basis. they have a tv built into the wall so she can watch childrens movies during her ultrasound. (which takes quite a long time) this works out very well for her, makes her much more cooperative.

our family dentist has them in each stall as well...this makes getting that cavity filled a little more tolerable.

as for our local ed, we are a very small rural hospital, and do not have this luxury. we are a press-ganey facility as well. i wonder if it would make a difference in our scores?!?!? i might have to bring that up!

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The ED I work for has tv's in some of the areas (mostly where the patients are going to be there for awhile). It has really made a difference. The tv's are mounted up on the wall out of the way and the remote is part of the nurse callbell. There hasn't been an increase in visitors (we only allow 2 at a time) and it isn't disruptive at all. If we're in there doing a procedure and it becomes distracting it can always be turned off. It keeps the patient occupied while waiting for tests or lab results to return.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

Besides I can keep up with my soap

Days of our Lives

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Specializes in Emed, LTC, LNC, Administration.

First let me start by saying that I haven't read through ALL of the posts on this thread. :) With that said...........

We moved into a new building two years ago and installed TV's in all of our rooms except the resus rooms. I was, at first, dead set against them. I didn't see where they had a place in the E.D. But after two years, I gotta say I was wrong. They help occupy the patient's time during long waits and DO help with the kids. Also as said, they can be good conversation starters, AND they can help ease some tension when you tell them it'll be a WHILE before they see the doctor or PA.

AFA the problems........we don't allow more then two visitors at any one time, and enforce it pretty much across the board. As for the noise, no one has ever had a problem with the nurses or doctors turning off the TV when we come into the room.

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Education.

I would never have guessed we follow the same soap opera...:)

"Recent co-worker now in Education Dept"

Besides I can keep up with my soap

Days of our Lives

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