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Visits and Contact

Anchoring Vignettes for Visits and Contact

Questions:

Now, overall, how would you rate [your/name's] experience of having the hospital allow visits and contact with relatives and friends, and contact with the outside world when [you/he/she] was staying in the hospital?

Response categories:

  1. Very good
  2. Good
  3. Moderate
  4. Very bad
  5. Bad

Vignettes:

  1. [Carol] had to be in hospital over a long period. The hospital staff were very considerate in allowing her husband to see her and be with her as much as possible. Whenever Carol wanted to contact her family, they would allow her to use the phone.

  2. [Sarah] was in hospital for several weeks. The head nurse of the hospital found out that [Sarah's] husband stayed far away so she arranged a place for him to sleep overnight so that he could visit her more regularly. If [Sarah] wanted to phone someone, there was a public call box she could use in the ward, but it was sometimes out of order.

  3. [Dora] had to stay in hospital for two months when she broke her leg. Her mother could not visit her at all as the visiting hours occurred when she was working. On request, the hospital allowed her mother to visit her at a more convenient hour.

  4. [Asefa] was in hospital over a period of 4 months. His parents visited him almost every day. To assist with his recovery, his parents brought things from home to remind him of his home and they encouraged friends to visit. Sometimes, friends arrived, when Asefa was being examined or cleaned, so they couldn't visit him.

  5. [Tamara] had to recuperate in hospital for two weeks after a bad fall. Her family visited her regularly during the visiting hours, but she was bored during the rest of the day. There was little stimulation provided for her in the hospital. Occasionally, the nurses brought her the daily newspaper.

  6. [Carl and Jane] have a child in hospital. They visit her everyday, but often find it hard to do so during visiting hours because they are working. Although they have inquired, the hospital has done nothing to allow them to visit at another time.

  7. [Sally] was in hospital and her husband could only visit her in the evenings. The hospital staff had told [Sally] and her husband that no children were allowed since they would disturb the other patients. Sally's husband had no-one to look after them in the evenings, so he could not leave them at home. He asked the staff if a nurse could watch the children in the waiting room, but they said it was not possible. This meant that [Sally's] had less visits from her husband.

  8. [Polly] had to be in hospital for a long time after being involved in a car accident. Over that period, she had friends visit her in the visiting hours in the evening. When she was starting to feel better, she was worried about what her work would think of her long absence so she asked her doctor if the doctor would phone [Polly's] employer to inform them fully about her condition. The doctor said that she would ask her assistant to do this in the coming week.

  9. [Penelope] had to stay in hospital for two weeks after undergoing surgery. Her family told her they were shy to visit because even during visiting hours the hospital staff made them feel very unwelcome. Patients were also not allowed personal reading matter in hospital.

  10. [Joseph] had to stay in hospital for ten days after a traffic accident. The nurses asked his family not to visit him, because visitors cause more work for the nurses. When Joseph's elderly mother visited she asked the nurse for an aspirin for her headache. The nurse responded that Joseph was the patient and that she could not help his mother.