Visitors with no common sense!!

RNinICU · Jun 9, 2002

We formed a committee to try to find a solution to some of these problems. We wrote up a pamphlet that describes our visitation policies, and we give it to families as part of the admission information. We also tell families when we orient them to the unit that we adhere to the policy. This has reduced some of the problems with visitors, but I truly believe that some people just have no common sense, and therefore will continue to abuse visiting hours. There are also a few of our staff who are unwiling to enforce the policies, and these individuals make it more difficult for the rest of us to enforce them. When you come in at 1900 and find 8 people in the room, and you ask them to leave, they tell you the other nurse left them stay all day. Or they want to use the phone at the nurse's station, you tell them visitors need to use the phone in the waiting room, and they get angry because the "nice" nurse left them use the phone.

There will always be people who bring their Burger King meal and eat it in front of the NPO patient with pancreatitis, or who try to readjust the IVs, but if everyone in the unit enforces the rules consistently, it will help to control rude visitors.

And there wil always be the phone calls from the second cousin's sister-in-law who once worked in a doctor's office as a receptionist, so knows all about "medical stuff,' or the caller who wants you to find the person who is visiting Mary something or other and give him a shopping list, but as was said before, some people have no common sense.

And speaking of phone calls, this is a little off topic, but it really bugs me when a caller says "I'm want to check on my Mom, but I'm calling long distance, so don't make me wait while you find her nurse." Come on, long distance is ten cents a minute, if Mom isn't worth ten cents, then don't call at all.

fedupnurse · Jun 9, 2002

Let's not forget the name droppers! Oh if they only knew how much that hurts their cause rather than helps it. I know so and so on the Board or in administration. Best answer I ever gave was "So?" They didn't know what to say for a minute and while their guard was down I started in with we all want what is best for the patient stuff.

Toronto, I had a woman tell me the patient was her mother. I knew she was lying so I said what is her last name. She was speechless. I said BYE-BYE now!!

KaraLea, LVN · Jun 9, 2002

I work in a Psych hosp and visitors are not allowed on the units. They check in at the front desk and the client comes to meet them there.

In the hosp where I used to work Med/Surg they had spicific visiting hours and usually the visitors abided by those hours, but when a patient was critical and not expected to live much longer we would allow visitors at any time but only 2 at a time, the rest had to wait in the waiting room. Not that they would, that was the one problem we had, too many visitors in the room at a time. OH, and the kids. Imagine running into the waiting room to answer the "Code Blue" that had just been anounced for that area and finding that it was a 3yr old playing with the button. He had turned it on and off a few times and then the older brother (7yrs old) finally pulled him away from it. NO ADULTS ANYWHERE AROUND!!!!

h2ogoddess · Jun 9, 2002

Gosh, I work in LTC and we have many of the same problems.

We have many family members who will walk into the Nurses Station and use the phone and read everything in sight and listen to everything that is said and then of course spread it all over town and guess who gets the blame for talking about "work issues and residents". Yeph, the staff. I say the Nurses Station is for staff only, but I am only the Ward Clerk.

If the staff would back me up, there would not be any family/residents or anyone one else in the station who didn't belong there.

WE have phones in the halls and a payphone in the building and I do tell people they are welcome to use those phones, now if only the nurses would encouarge it also. Have on "wife" of a resident who carries her cordless phone but does not use it (we make it so easy for her to be in the station).

Oh well what the heck, guess we'll have to have a problem before we fix it.

KaraLea, LVN · Jun 9, 2002

We once had a patient who's son would wander around the halls and walk into other patient's rooms (scared one young mother silly, she was there with 4day old hyperbilireubin baby) We once had a patient who was having a reaction to Phenergan (extremely confused, trying to get out of bed seeing bugs all over the floor) The next thing we know, this other patient's son is telling everyone we were abusing the confused patient, tying her down (we did end up restraining this woman to keep her from pulling out her IV and foley) and yelling at her. This had been in an isolation room and she was trying to come out into the hallway (MRSA of sputum), this man had to have come partway into the room to see us through the second doorway. After that, the DON told him that if he ever came back to visit his mother, he was to stay in her room or waiting room.

finallyRN · Jun 9, 2002

I agree with the others the visitors in OB can be terrible. The other night I had a great couple whose first coments to me were that only the husband was to be in the room when it was time to push and have the baby. So we kicked everyone out. Everytime the door open to the room the family (all 15 of them) tried to come in or asked if the baby was here yet or how much longer. We could actually here them cracking the door open every once in a while to get a peek. Finally after the baby came and we cleaned everything up we let the family in. Mind you mom had yet to really hold the infant (he was still in the warmer)

They all asked can we hold him yet? I told them, "once he is warm enough Mom can hold him then it is up to her" I kicked them out for the night 20 minutes later.

Huganurse · Jun 10, 2002

To finally RN: Good for you!!!! I wish you'd been my nurse when I had my son. I applaud all those L/D nurses who put Mom first, and make sure that Mom is calling the shots when it comes to visitors.

Fgr8Out · Jun 10, 2002

I tell my patients, their family and friends that I am an advocate for the PATIENT. If I'm able, I talk privately with the patient and let them know that they do not HAVE to entertain visitors while they are recovering in the hospital... and that all they have to do is give me a sign and I will see that everyone leaves. I make no excuses to anyone. Frequently I will cite that the patient needs to rest at this time... or that the patient in the next bed needs to. When I get a fresh post-op, I let all the visitors hovering, waiting for the patients arrival that I must first get the patient settled into their bed and room... and perform my assessment. Not until then, do I allow anyone in the room.

Young people in late night hours?? Disturbing patients and staff alike? LOL I call Security... they handle the entire issue just fine. :roll

Folks who bring babies are in for a real treat with me. The first time I see an adult setting a small child on the floor I rush right up to them and say "you might want to pick up your child, as just earlier today we had a patient in transport vomit on that exact spot." I also make mention of all the germs some of our patients have... and how ill-advised it is to allow small children free reign in a hospital. Trust me, they leave in a hurry and don't bring the children back. :chuckle

Yes, there are people without any common sense... and yes, it galls me that many of our hospitals no longer have visiting hours, which attracts those without common sense even more. But I figure my role as nurse isn't limited and that I can have a say in issues which affect the recovery/comfort of my patients. And I'm not afraid to voice them.

KaraLea, LVN · Jun 10, 2002

I had one man bring a 18mo old baby to the hospital to visit with his wife and the child's new baby brother, this was fine as it was during visiting hours, but then he wanted to take the child into see "Grandma" who was on the medical ward, in isolation, with possible TB. NO WAY!!!! He kept saying well she was around the child before admission. I DON'T CARE!!!! That child is not going into that isolation room. Not to mention this is the same family that can see the nurses putting on full protection before going into the room for only one or two minutes, but they will sit in that room all day without even a mask.

KaraLea, LVN · Jun 10, 2002

Well when I found the parents of that child who was playing with the code blue buttons I told them that when that button is pushed, people run from all over the hospital to help with the code and did they want to pay the wages for all those people for the amount of time it took them to get to the "Fake" code and then back to their regular units. And what about if their regular units had a "real" emergancy while we were all rushing to find a unaccompanied child playing with buttons. Not to mention the fact that this 3yr old had to stand up on a chair on his tip toes to reach the button in the first place. Who would the parents blame if that child had fallen and hit his head or broken his neck???? The Babysitter Nurses????

pkmom · Jun 10, 2002

Originally posted by canoehead
How about the woman who delivers at 6am having been up all night and a 10am is expected to smile and entertain the whole clan until evening visiting hours are over. People just don't think.

Yes!!! My inalws were so angry with my after the delivery of my son, but they can't tell me a single thing that I did. My MIL was expecting me to wait on everyone and be so smily and cheerful when I was tired, sore and recovering from a c-section.

my MIL came in to my room 10 minutes after the c-section wanting to take my picture! I told her I wanted to be alone and did not want my picture taken. She came in after another ten minutes and informed me that she had been thinking about it, and thought that I would really regret not having my picture taken on the day my son was born. Now if I could have gotten out of that bed.....

my FIL walked into my Postpartum room without knocking while I was nursing my son and was naturally uncomfortable. So my MIL asked me to cover up. How about teaching your husband some fricking manners!

Sorry guys, two years and it still gets to me.

live4today, RN · Jun 10, 2002

Hmmmmm...guess now I will have to add "Does your hospital have restricted visiting hours" to the list of questions I often ask when interviewing for a nursing job. :rolleyes: :chuckle