I was searching around out of boredom and found pictures from an abandoned hospital. One was of the visitors' hours and RULES posted on a wall! Too bad rules like these don't still exist today. I remember rules like these as a kid and I'm only 30 (we couldn't go visit grandpa because we weren't 13 yet - that was the age at my local hospital!)! How quickly times have changed.
At my old place, visiting hours ended at 8 and no family members were to stay over unless they were of the same gender as the patient and roommate and they were there to "help" as per the "family-patient-centered" model. I have seen nurses get in trouble for asking family members to leave, one even got suspended because the visitor was friends with the CEO of the hospital. Can you believe that? So why bother.
I'm all for strict visiting hours which doesn't exist where I work. I even had a pt's daughter get snotty when I asked her to step out while bathing her mom because "I've always be allowed in before." Alright... well... don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya I'll call ya when I'm done. ;-)
That said I have a Few families who were vital to the care the patient recieved. Mostly in pts with difficulty communicating related to a chronic disease.
Still, "listen to the patient's nurse" is the most important rule of all imho.
Our facility actually has 2 approved therapy dogs, Rocky the poodle and Flash the bassett hound, they have pink dog vests (our volunteers wear pink smocks/vests) and even have ID badges lol they are a huge hit when they come in for visits, come to think of it they have more gold stars on their badges (if a pt directly compliments a staff member they get a gold star pin for their badge and a certificate of appreciation with a copy of the SHARE card that the pt filled out) than most nurses on the floor lol
Our facility actually has 2 approved therapy dogs, Rocky the poodle and Flash the bassett hound, they have pink dog vests (our volunteers wear pink smocks/vests) and even have ID badges lol they are a huge hit when they come in for visits, come to think of it they have more gold stars on their badges (if a pt directly compliments a staff member they get a gold star pin for their badge and a certificate of appreciation with a copy of the SHARE card that the pt filled out) than most nurses on the floor lol
We have therapy dogs, too. Toby is a cute black & white Papillon, and Jesse the Daschaund just retired. I can't remember the names of the two standard poodles. We've found that not just the patients benefit from their visits...the employees always cheer up when they're there too!
meadow85
168 Posts
At my old place, visiting hours ended at 8 and no family members were to stay over unless they were of the same gender as the patient and roommate and they were there to "help" as per the "family-patient-centered" model. I have seen nurses get in trouble for asking family members to leave, one even got suspended because the visitor was friends with the CEO of the hospital. Can you believe that? So why bother.