What are everyone's policy on visiting hours say on med surg? We have it 11am to 830pm everyday. It used to be if people stayed later as long as they were not loud and not bothering the neigbor we'd let it slide by. They ususally would stay 30min over then leave. And of course someone not doing well let them stay try to get a private room and almost any time a private room let them stay.
Anyway right now we are out of control now. The families know now they can stay past meaning just demand to stay we call the supervisor and they ok it. Now it's several members staying all the way to 10pm at night. If they were loud we get them to leave. Also one time a family member left his 3 year old with his sedated mother and left to get coffee and she was running all over and the mom a pt was totally out of it!!! What finally did it was a dying pt who had hoards of family like 6 that came in 2 people shifts that would ask questions constantly and if you didn't cover a glucose in 2 min since it was taken call you on it and literally i'd be walking down the hall to yes ANOTHER pt and they would yell not even my name NURSE NURSE NURSE what the heck am i suppose to do i wish i had the balls to ignore them but want to be polite. Then they ask ALL the staff the same question. Pt has nurses and lawyers for family. The pt is terminal and yet everything is being done. The staff is quite ticked at it all supervisor aware and the family is staying past visiting hours WAY late on cell phones. They also say goodnight then come back in an hour as if to CATCH you not doing something right. ONe held the phone toward my face as i was talking to the son facing it to us back and forth and it FINALLY clicked what the heck was going on. They are asking all these questions to several staff members and all different realatives wanting to personally know the info despite being told they need ONE contact person, watching everything: they are stocking on witnesses to sue us if anything happens. My coworker is like yeah they're going to close the unit so each of us could be called in as witnesses. Wow i'm really venting but it's ridiculous we can't do our job. I can't even see the pt it's the family period. The thing that kills is the people doing it are nurses too!!! I feel like we're being betrayed in a way and totally disrespected and above all this pt is being torturred!
What i'm finding out is we need a set policy to deal with this. See exceptions should be made. I'd just hate to force out exceptions for rare occasions but to prevent such out of control things we need to set some policy and stick by it. IN icu there is only several 15 min visits you can do. My mom was in icu for 3-4 months (crohns diease, kidney problems, 41 years old) and the nurses loved my dad. He would stay out of the way leave for certain procedures and was quiet. And it was just him. He'd let him do there job and they'd let him stay for 3 hours! See i find nothing wrong with that and he needed that and my mom too so it disgusts me that tha one family can ruin this but at the same time something needs to be done. Ok the one thing my father did make a comment was when a nurse pulled back on the ngt then put the residual back in! He's like THAT"s dirty!!! They explained it then he stayed back. And it was comment not stepping forward with several relatives armed with camera phones!!!
A doctor started complaining now. I asked the family to leave the relative said yeah he'd mind just came in from nyc so it's like ok understandable but you can't stay so long! Find out he was there for 45min. Oh and pt not severaly ill. Anyway now i'm sucked into a meeting by this one doctor's request to report this to the CEO IKES!!! I feel like i'm bakc in junior high but will do it to try and get something started!
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Sometimes security guards aren't that highly trained. I've heard of their guns getting taken away before. I'm sure there will be an investigation about this incident.
This happened about 10 years ago. It was ruled a justifiable shooting. The family was quite upset. I don't know if they ever sued. I don't think it would have come to anything though. You can't take someone's gun and wave it around threatening to shoot and not expect any consequences. Getting shot dead is a little radical, but I wasn't there so I wasn't the one making the decision. You have no idea how glad I was that I didn't have to work supervision that night. :sofahider
The issue with the pt with family of lawyers and nurses it was nothing i've ever seen (been in nursing 2 years). the one relative would TOUCH all the equipment take the bipap off to give water and would not listen to not touch it period. there was a medicine issue as well that the family caught (actually dietary source that in the whole entire scheme of things did not matter whatsoever because all her systems were failing) and the family comes to me about the others put one drop and i put 3 and called dietary i was right and they were like when was this "error" fixed. Omg!!! I had a dr order for the relative not to touch equipment. She was the one not in medical health care obviously. Tell the supervisor and nothing was done. The one thing about my unit we've had 2 managers and neither were good. I'm still deciding if our new one is just thrown in a huge mess and still trying to dig her way out but I'm starting to have my doubts after i told her people needed fit testing for tb iso masks and she told me outright what's the big deal just put on small or regular. I sent the info to infection control employee health and back to the manager and they're or rather infection control working on making appts to make it happen.
Even nurses for 10-15 years started refusing this pt and I had to get the manager because we all had to take turns. Sounds like i'm a goody goody here but no we have lots of issues going on. I guess just take time and experience. I allways act polite. I tried 1x to hint I have other pts and boy did it back fire they looked as if they were going to strangle me!!!
That's when you call security and have the visitors removed for pt safety...just document after multiple attempts at explaining they are not to touch certain equipment you were left no choice but to have them removed for pt safety...and if that doesn't work..call the police..they'll get the hint eventually...and if not...then they will be removed...people don't go to the supermarket and ring up their own orders on the cash register and get away with it...
This happened about 10 years ago. It was ruled a justifiable shooting. The family was quite upset. I don't know if they ever sued. I don't think it would have come to anything though. You can't take someone's gun and wave it around threatening to shoot and not expect any consequences. Getting shot dead is a little radical, but I wasn't there so I wasn't the one making the decision. You have no idea how glad I was that I didn't have to work supervision that night. :sofahider
My point is that armed security personel, who aren't police officers, are often are poorly paid and not well trained. I've read about bank security guards getting their guns stolen too.
Daytonite, BSN, RN
1 Article; 14,604 Posts
This happened about 10 years ago. It was ruled a justifiable shooting. The family was quite upset. I don't know if they ever sued. I don't think it would have come to anything though. You can't take someone's gun and wave it around threatening to shoot and not expect any consequences. Getting shot dead is a little radical, but I wasn't there so I wasn't the one making the decision. You have no idea how glad I was that I didn't have to work supervision that night. :sofahider