you haven't seen him since high school, and you are in your late fifties!
a few weeks ago i intercepted a visitor who had somehow gained access to our oh-so-permeable icu. he was wandering near the unit assistant's desk (vacant! who buzzed the guy in?) and looking lost and confused. when i asked if he needed help, he told me he was there to visit a friend. "what's your friend's name?" i asked. the fact that he couldn't even come close to pronouncing the very common last name alarmed me somewhat. "wait here, and i'll ask his nurse if it is okay to visit right now."
the patient was very sick and could barely speak, but he was a&o x 3, and his wife was at the bedside when i popped in to ask about this visitor. "what????" the patient was horrified. "i went to high school with that guy." (the patient was 57). needless to say, this patient--cachectic, jaundiced, dyspneic, nauseated, and barely able to hold his head up--was in no mood to reunite with an old high school acquaintance. the rest of our conversation can be distilled down to: holy crap keep that freak away from here.
i went back to the visitor. "sorry, but i can't let you in to visit. we are only allowing family to visit."
the visitor was non-plussed. "but i drove all the way from ___. can you at least tell me how he's doing?"
"sorry. you will need to contact his family if you want information."
"but i don't have their phone numbers. i don't even know them!"
"if you don't know his family and haven't seen him in years, how did you even know to come here?"
"somebody sent a group email mentioning that he was in this icu, so i came to check it out.":eek:
i wish i could say that that was the first or only time that something like that has happened with a visitor, but you know i cannot.
feel free to contribute your own
you shouldn't be visiting this icu patient if . . .
