Why Are Flowers Not Allowed On Hospital Wards?

[shivvy]

And is it particularly cut flowers that are not allowed?

Thanks

(Not sure if this should have gone into this category or gardening!)

[factor-fiction]

I would think it's either because of health reasons (germs) or because the nursing staff don't have the time to look after the flowers and discard the dead one (flowers not patients)

[pixie373]

Allergies. They used to take them out at night, thinking they took oxygen from the room. I think just too much clearing up of dead petals, etc.

[mackfender]

I have heard that flowers,plants etc take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. If it's true or not I'm not sure.

[seekeerz]

There was a school of thought, many years ago, that flowers gave off carbon dioxide at night or some such idea, and flowers were put outside the room ... And these people were treating the patients !

[Buenchico]

Not all hospitals prohibit visitors from taking flowers to patients. Those that do so cite allergies and infection control as their reasons:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/2574347/Flowers-banned-from-hospital-wards.html
and
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2010/07/13/hospital-could-ban-flowers-due-to-health-and-safety-rules/

[seekeerz]

Nowadays the staff are too busy and short-staffed to have time and the 'lavender ladies' seem to have vanished off the face of the earth, pity !

[shivvy]

I heard a nurse in a ward today say that she "nearly had a heart attack" when she saw a cut sunflower in a paper cup beside a patient because flowers weren't allowed. It seemed quite melodramatic but I reckoned I just didn't understand the danger it posed. Maybe the stale water in the vase?

[B00]

How sad ,that the one thing that might brighten up a patients day is now not allowed :-(

[vodkancoke]

The only time I have been told I had to leave my flowers at the door was when my friend's baby was born very premature and she was in the neonatal unit. Otherwise I have always been allowed to take them in and equally when I have been in hospital, I have always been allowed flowers. It's a shame that some hospitals don't allow them :(

[Maydup]

No flowers are allowed in our local hospital. Its a brand new building and very clean and sterile. They didn't build shelves or anywhere to put flowers but now we're all used to it, it seems quite normal. Not enough room, not enough vases, not enough staff to change the water and no risk of allergies.

[silliemillie]

When I was in hospital my friend had heard about the no flowers rule so bought me a pot plant, but I still wasn't allowed even that.

[shivvy]

But the staff nurse wouldn't have "nearly had a heart attack" because there was no room for the flower or that she wouldn't have time to water it!
Surely there must be a health reason?

[woofgang]

nope, no health reason but wards are getting more crowded with essential equipment and there is less room for things like flowers. if all flowers were brought in in prearranged oasis in plastic trays it would be easier but the whole fuss about having vases and dealing with dead and dying flowers and so on wastes precious nursing time and also makes it harder to clean. There is the other minor point that hospitals have to pay to have their rubbish removed and it aint cheap so every single thing they can do to reduce the amount of rubbish generated helps with budgets generally, hence paper recycling which many of them do.
not sure why your nurse today nearly had a heart attack....why did you not ask her?

[shivvy]

I didn't ask her because she wasn't talking to me. Wish I had butted in now though! Might ask when I am back at the hospital tomorrow.
Can't see how it would be up to the nurses to deal with flowers though. Cleaners or orderlies maybe. I know that they are really busy too and can understand that that would take up valuable cleaners time if they had to look after patients flowers but I think there might be a health benefit to the patient to have flowers too.

[vulcan42]

It's the visitors who take the flowers in, I'm sure they are capable of dealing with deadheading and other little tasks. Anyway there seems to be more problems with cleanliness in the wards these days then when flowers were allowed in.

[shivvy]

I know vulcan. I took my mum to the loo last night and today again and I have to say that the stench coming from the loo was really overwhelming. She had been in a hospital before this one and it was spotless. It seems odd that the hosp which stinks doesn't allow flowers but the previous one is spotless and nobody said anything about Mum having a lily beside her bed.

[Sqad]

Simple......allergies.
Many plants may give a severe contact dermatitis (skin rash e.g primulas) which can be confusing if patient is in hospital particularly for investigation.Pollen is less of an allergic problem, but still present.

[joko]

bugs.

my sister bought me a bunch of flowers many years ago - and they had a beetle larvae in them - it has taken me many years to get rid of the little buggers
i found a little pile of them right under where the flowers were on the mantle piece under the rug - i killed them all but some had obviously escaped
i researched and found they do come on on flowers.
at first they were everywhere, it was horrible - i went mad trying to kill every single one, spraying, squashing, hoovering etc, but i hardly ever see one now - but do still find the odd few now and again - drives me mad.

a proper infestation would cost a lot of money to properly treat in a hospital, as they are very hard to completely get rid off - they get into everything and are tiny when they are babies so easily missed ... then the whole cycle starts again, as they have a long gestation
... and they cant be spraying insecticide, or letting off smoke bomb things etc in a hospital.
and they cant just hoover up if an area is contaminated like you could in a normal house.

there may well be other bugs too...

i also think the water can be pretty icky too - if a vase got knocked over you have a big spill of manky water that needs properly cleaning up with antibac etc

i daresay they have reasonable explanation for doing it - im sure the nurses etc would want to have to deal with huffing relatives who don't understand all the time, if they didn't have to.


maybe the myth about them taking oxygen was started as a way to shut moaning relatives up, hehe.