Items that You May Not Be Advised to Take into Hospital

While you may think that it's a nice idea to take certain items into hospital for a patient, you need to be aware that some items are not openly welcomed, and others may in fact be banned from being used in hospitals.

Traditionally hospital visitors have taken flowers into hospital for patients, but since 2009 they have been banned from hospitals in the UK because they can potentially be a health hazard.

Aside from glass vases being breakable, the pollen in flowers can cause allergies, and in addition the water in the vase may be a harbor for dangerous bugs.

Some hospitals have also restricted the food that visitors being into hospitals for a patient, preferring that the patient diet be better controlled by having them eat hospital food, rather than take out food and snacks that may be high in salt, fats and sugars.

So think twice before you take in a cheeseburger for your patient, or chocolate bars, or even a bowl of fruit. You may have to take it straight back out with you after your visit.

While some hospital smells might not be too pleasant, nothing is worse than being in a room with someone who is wearing a pungent perfume, so ladies if you are visiting someone in hospital, please hold back on your scent and save it for another day. Some patients as well as visitors may also have allergic reactions to heady perfumes.

Although the rules are now being relaxed, some hospitals might not permit the use of cell phones in the building, so please be prepared to turn these off when you visit.

It is thought that some equipment in hospitals can be affected by cell phone transmissions, however the ability to use them is becoming far more common, and it is a definite bonus if a patient is able to use a cell phone while in hospital, since the use of hospital phones is often chargeable, and of course they are not wireless and are not pre-programmed with your most common numbers.

If you are going to be using a cell phone in hospital, whether as a visitor or a patient, please be considerate to others, place it in a mode where it will not ring loudly and play an obnoxious ring tone every five minutes, and please don't spend all day talking loudly on it either.

MP3 players or iPods are generally allowed in hospitals, and these are a great bonus for the patient, whether it is to listen to music or to listen to audio books. In the UK hospitals generally do allow these to be used, and allow their chargers to be plugged in as well, however not all electronic devices are permitted.

A hospital patient likes to have photographs around them, especially memories of happier days, however even if you think that taking a digital photo frame in for them is a good idea, it may need to be checked out by hospital security first, and may indeed not be allowed.

Electrical devices, especially computers or transmitters could interfere with the hospital communications network, and some dubious devices could even cause a problem with the electrical system, which is not desirable, so they are often not allowable just in case.

A Portable DVD Player might be a good idea for a patient to use, similarly a laptop computer, but then if the patient is away from their bed having tests or undergoing surgery, who is going to look after these items? Storage space in hospitals for the patients is often limited, and a laptop left out while a patient is not in their room is a tempting opportunity for any thief.

Hospitals also do not necessarily have an internet connection that is available for a patient to use, therefore a laptop computer if permitted might not be able to connect to the internet, and it's use might be limited to watching movies, writing documents, or playing offline games etc.

Whether you are visiting someone in hospital, or are a patient in hospital yourself, please be considerate to those around you, as well as to the staff who are working there. The more problems and inconveniences that you cause for them, has an impact on how well they are able to do their work, and we all want our patients to get well don't we.

The rules for each hospital are different, and also various parts of as hospital may have different rules, depending on the equipment in use and the nature of the care of the patients who are there, so please check with the hospital, ideally on their web site, prior to taking something in there that might be restricted.

Sources:

Hospital flowers nipped in the bud by NHS hygiene police

Hospital could ban flowers due to Health and Safety rules

No Need For Hospital Mobile Ban

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