It is in our policy at my facility that all patients have to be restricted to the unit for the first 24 hours after admission, regardless of admitting diagnosis. Staff report, this is policy for patient and staff safety. As a newer CNO at this facility, I am struggling with the concept that it is unsafe to allow a patient to go to the dining room just because they have been at the hospital for under 24 hours since there is always staff present in the dining room who are continuing to do Q15 minute rounds on all patients. I am having trouble finding anything in the literature on this topic. I just feel it is one of those "this is how we have always done it" situations and I am trying to update policies and become more patient centered in our approach to patient care at my facility. Any feedback or insights would be very helpful.