The patient is an American Indian admitted to the hospital for chemotherapy. At any given time, five family members are in the patient's room, which is private

Question

The nurse tells the patient that according to hospital policy; only two visitors at a time are allowed. What does the best analysis by the nurse manager reveal about the nurse's action?
1. The nurse should have assessed the patient's preferences about how many family members she wanted to be present.
2. The nurse should have called the physician and obtained an order for additional family members to be present.
3. This was the correct action; the nurse was following protocol by informing the patient about hospital policy.
4. The nurse should have allowed the patient to have as many family members as she wanted to be present.

Answer 1

Correct Answer: 1
Rationale: The nurse should have assessed the patient's preference about how many visitors she wanted in her room before so strictly interpreting the hospital rules. Many hospital rules, such as how many visitors are allowed, are flexible and do not have to be strictly interpreted; this patient is in a private room. The nurse must be realistic with regard to the number of family visitors the patient wants present; five family members is acceptable; twenty would be too many. This situation could be resolved by the nurse, there is no need for a physician's order at this point.