this is something Ive wondered about before. if someone is a patient in the hospital, why does the hospital care if a visitor is family or not? some people are closer to a friend than a family member, im all for family, but I dintunderstand why a hospital cares if a patient wants a friend, boyfriend, clergy, neighbor, or father to visit. it should imo be based on the patient. recently i had a friend in the hospital who wanted me there , what little family she does have she is not close to and they are not in the area. the charge nurse seemed very interested in knowing if i was family. i felt like just saying yea, im her sibling (what difference does it make and how would they check anywaysk?) nbut, NO i did not lie about it, i was truthful that i was ‘just’ a friend.
“Ripes?”
I’m sorry, but your typos and punctuation errors make your posts a bit difficult to parse. Are you asking why hospitals are so interested in whether or not the patient’s guests are family? I would assume it’s to prevent every Tom, Dick, and Harry from the patient’s church, bridge group, book club, motorcycle enthusiast’s club, workplace, and favourite restaurant from trooping in to see them. Having endless visitors can be very exhausting for ill people, and presumably if they are in a precarious condition the nurses don’t want dozens and dozens of potentially-infectious-disease-passing visitors wandering through.
Ripes?
Maybe “gripes”?
“Rules” is my guess.
I don’t really understand what you’re asking because of the poor spelling and punctuation, but hospitals should be places where sick people can rest and get well. Many people, including me, prefer not to have to entertain visitors when we aren’t feeling or looking our best.
From your wording, I take it you’re not American. In America, unless you’re in the ICU, generally anyone can visit you as long as they have your room number. There’s no bouncer to keep non-family out. In ICU, visitation is severely limited, since the patients are very ill and need extra care. In that case, there may be a list of approved visitors.
Just as a aside, when my mother had a massive stroke and we had to make the decision to remove her from life support, one of her acquaintances pushed her way into the ICU room filled with grieving children and siblings and threw herself sobbing into the mix, pushing my mother’s own children aside. This woman wasn’t even considered that good a friend by my mother, merely the realtor mother used to sell a couple houses. It was more than obtrusive.
StG
HIPPA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules.
HIPPA really puts a hurting on hospitals and they need to be VERY sure of patient privacy.
Sorry, it was supposed to say rules…my point is, why does the hospital care if your a blood relative as opposed to a close friend? Of course a patient wouldnt want every “tom, dick or harry visiting” but a close friend in her case, is closer than family. The nurse didnt stop me from visiting, but she seemed interested in knowing if I was a family member. Why should it matter to the hospital if the visitor is blood related, as long as that person is close to the patient. Also when I asked at the lobby to see her, they seemed interested in knowing if I was family. No, but she considers her close friend family more than her blood related family.
Aside from cordially reminding me that I keep putting off my long-intended “Don’t Post Here From Your Phone” Pit Thread, Tollhouse seems to be addressing visitation regulations often discussed in Gay Marriage arguments: The gay parent’s non-biological children being refused visitation, the long time partner being kept from the bedside at the wishes of the otherwise estranged parents, that kind of thing.
Ah, Tollhouse posted a clarification while I was typing.
Jerry, I am not able to open the link right now, but I do know some very basic Hiipa rules. I guess I dont understand why the hospital tells the patient who is important to them ( I.e. if a patient considers a friend to be their family and isnt close to their blood related family ). As long as the patient is close to the person and wants them to be able to get information about them, why should the government (in the case of hiipa) or the hospital placing special emphasis on allowing family special visiting priveleges, override their wishes ?
How does the hospital differentiate “friend of the patient” from “process server”?
I have seen different variations on how this plays out sometimes. Example A…patient is in hospital and some extended family goes to visit. The nurse lets them right in giving them more leeway with the number of visitors, because they are technically family. The nurse allows five of them in, instead of the usual two visitor rule, because they are relatives (no matter how close they are to patient) . Example B, a patient wants his girlfriend to visit but its outside visiting hours. The hospital tells him sorry, if she was family, we might allow it, but since shes not, she will have to come back another time. Why does the hospital get to say who is important to the patient. Again, I am all for family, this is NOT an anti family thing at all. I just dont understand why the hospital cares so intently about how the person visiting is related, as long as its a loved one the patient wants there.
Not sure this would come up very often, but this would be pretty simple to avoid. The staff would ask visitors for their name, and go let the patient know “your friend Tom is here…is it ok to send him back?” The patient would say yes, or no. They could also give a list of people they want to see, and if someone else comes to visit, they could then determine who they are and if the patient wants to see them.
I have yet to visit anyone in the hospital - or during a hospital stay myself - where I observed anyone being asked their relationship to the patient or the nature of their visit.
As far as I’m aware, the hospitals in my area have no designated visiting hours or any restrictions on visitors. I know of one hospital which observes quiet hours during the night, but that’s it.
The only time I’ve ever seen or heard of this happening is on TV and movies.
Some hospitals allow you to specify no visitors. Security screening of all patients, visitors, and personnel is increasing. Each hospital sets it own policies, but their major concerns are liablility and disruptions.
It’s spelled HIPAA. Not hippa, not hiipa, and not even Hipaa.
Aside from the overwhelming privacy issues that hospitals have to contend with, different units may simply be too small for a gaggle of visitors. Right now, I’m with someone at an in-hospital infusion clinic, and there is only space for one visitor there, and even that gets snug.
Are you sure this wasn’t just idle curiosity or making conversation on the part of the nurse/receptionist?
thatguyjeff,
this is not at all been my experience, its surprising the hospitals in your area dont even have any limits on basic visiting hours. In my area, there are several very good medical centers, and two psychiatric hospitals. over the years i have had experiience with several of them, either as a visitor, or a patient. i verified the visitng hours at three local hospitals in my area.
A) 8 am to 8pm
B) 11 am to 8 pm
C) 9 am to 7pm
Hospitals in this area that I’m familiar with generally have specified visiting hours which vary depending on which part of the hospital you’re in.
The maternity wards, for example, have very limited hours and do strictly limit the number of visitors. They also usually have extremely tight security for obvious reasons. However, fathers are permitted to visit the mother & baby any time.
Intensive care units, again for obvious reasons, have extremely limited visiting permitted. After my husband’s open-heart surgery, for example, they allowed me to go see him for a few minutes, after cautioning me that he was going to look like he didn’t make it through the surgery.
When a very good friend of mine had a stroke, they permitted me to visit as if I were a family member, because she had no family at all in the area.
It’s also possible to tell the hospital staff about people you especially don’t want to visit. In my family, we often specifically excluded my father’s sister from hospital visiting. She belongs to very fundamentalist religious group and was wont to ask people about to have surgery if they were “saved,” in case they died during the operation.
Some hospitals seem to have the policy others don’t. I noticed when my mother died, and then again, when my father died, they were in ICU and usually they have a strict “family only.” But then they let anyone who wanted see them, I knew it wouldn’t be long before they were dead and the hospital was being nice, giving people a chance to say good bye.
:rolleyes: Nurses aren’t butlers - they have very important and demanding jobs to do.