To think night staff could be a bit quieter

I had preeclampsia and a kidney infection and was in hospital a week before I had DD. They put me in an empty bay of four and I couldn't believe my luck, except they then used that bay for all their gossip - including coming during the middle of the night to switch the lights on and have a good cackle. I was so exhausted I was hallucinating. DH was at home looking after our other DC so I didn't have anyone to speak up for me. I've never felt so disoriented and confused in my life. The kidney infection played a part, but the ward staff played a bigger role

Things must have changed since I did my nurse training in 1995 because I remember being told to change my shoes as they made too much of a clipping noise when I walked around the wards at night. We also sat at the nurses station and whispered and were very conscious of letting our patients try and sleep. Of course it is necessary to carry out obs especially on post op wards but I agree it must be torture. I would be asking a relative to bring in some wax earplugs as I have to have complete silence to be able to sleep.

Hospitals are awful at night. There was a puddle of wee next to my bed but the nurses wouldnt clean it. They said the cleaner would do it in the morning.

Hi OP I had a two week stay in hospital and it was horrendous, the noise!!!!! At night, I really think the nurses just don’t get it, they treat night like day.

But yes earplugs and eye mask, can a family member bring them in? Also nap during the day too.

Hospitals are the worst place for rest, I remember it well, ask for ear plugs, if hospitals can’t supply ask friend or relative to bring some to you. Good luck.

I was in overnight with fractured ankle, four of us in ward, great, all quiet. The nurses then moved in a dementia patient, who had been in a side room, as 'the company would do her good '. Poor woman called out every half an hour ALL NIGHT. Nurses came in to settle her, then she was off again. Just why? Was supposed to stay another night but discharged myself.

The high temp is probably why your obs are every two hours

Record it and send it to the complaints place. It's a bit like having a group behaviour where if you were to say 'Shhhh' to your fellow nurses you would be ostracised for not being as selfish as them. How bad staff get away with stuff. .. . . .......

Oh YA definitely NBU
ds was in hospital as a baby and his cot ended up being right next to the nurses station. I was quite shocked by the noise they made, crunching crisps whilst having full volume discussions about things they'd seen on TV even breaking into song a couple of times...it was bizarre and I kept wondering how children were expected to get better when they couldn't sleep.
I think we did just learn to sleep through it in the end though.

YANBU

This happened to me in the private hospital too. Hospitals are terrible for recovering. I had a hip replacement and it was a relief to get out within 48 hours despite it being so major.

This did not happen to me when I had overnight treatment in Germany.

YANBU
Lack of sleep is torture and doesn’t aid recovery. I remember my last stay in hospital the nurses would congregate around the desk laughing and talking loudly. No consideration at all.
Get well soon 💐

I’m a very light sleeper, it pretty much needs to be silent for me to sleep - when I gave birth I had to stay in for 5 nights. I don’t think I slept for 5 nights and I hadn’t slept for 3 nights before that because of the labour/induction. Was such a terrible start to motherhood and I was going out my mind. I understand babies crying on the ward but I couldn’t believe how so many nurses just acted completely normal, talking loudly and laughing. I was also on 3 hourly observations which were on a different schedule to my babies needed feeding so if I did drop off, I was getting woken up! Absolute torture and I still feel so angry about it 12 years later.

I remember being on a really big ward about 30 years ago. At night the lights would be properly dimmed and it was silent, woe betide a patient who called out instead of pressing their buzzer. The nurses were silent and if you had to be seen in the night there was a diffused light they could switch on next to your bed and both the Patient and the nurse/doctor were as quiet as possible. The whole atmosphere was calm, even in the daytime. I’m not sure why it’s so different now but the nurses definitely need to use indoor voices especially when talking to each other, it’s nightshift with ill people, not a hen do!

I can really feel your frustration and really hope you got some sleep.

Speak to the doc this morning during rounds and they can hopefully add something to help you sleep to your meds list.

I’ve discharged myself twice due to this, during my last stay I informed staff that I didn’t consent to any monitoring or medical treatment at night, it worked. It was still noisy, but it at least meant I wasn’t being woken every 60 minutes to have my blood pressure taken.

The first time I came out of a hospital admission I felt worse than when I went in 🧟‍♀️

The first thing I pack now is eye mask and ear plugs. See if someone can bring you in some.

When you're not so poorly, ask if you can skip the night obs - you might need to ask the doctors when they do their rounds for permission.

This is why, after one hospital birth followed by a 5 night stay, I then opted for home delivery! I then managed to avoid hospital stays for over 30 years - until last month when I had unexpected emergency surgery whilst on holiday in Ireland. It was everything the OP describes! Luckily I was put on antiemetics which had the side effect of drowsiness so after the first 36 hours I dozed on and off all day long.

On top of the noise from porters, nurses, equipment etc already mentioned, my absolute bugbear is the televisions at the foot of everyone's beds. I was in a ward of 6 listening to 5 different television programmes as no one uses headphones. This went on all day and late into the night.
No sleep at all!

The noise from staff should be kept to a minimum and the loud laughing/joking and banging about isn’t acceptable. I’d definitely complain about that. The lights should be dimmed as much as possible too. It is difficult when they still have a job to do though.

They’ll also be checking your observations more frequently because you are so poorly with an infection and consistently high temp. Your condition could change/deteriorate very quickly and they would be none the wiser if they weren’t checking.

My husband had four nights in hospital earlier this year, and this was something he really suffered from. Mostly it's not medical necessity that drives it, but a sheer lack of consideration for patients. It costs nothing to do things quietly most of the time. He told his consultant the staff needed to spend a night or two on their own ward to see what it was like, and the consultant agreed.

I was in for an op two years ago and because my blood pressure & temperature were low, they woke me up every 60 minutes to check it.

I reverted to that 'cluster-feeding' state of being 95% asleep for 12 hours a day.

The care was outstanding though and there was nothing really to be done about it. They have to be operational 24/7.

YANBU! 2x Csections and both time I left hospital earlier than recommended because I couldn't sleep at all.
It was nothing to do with the other mothers or babies making noise, totally would have accepted that.
Just the banging, clattering, chatter laughter amongst the midwives/nurses. Sure everyone likes a chat and laugh to break the time up, but maybe not at 3am in the middle of a ward. Take it to the corridor or perhaps use an 'inside voice'!

There’s no chance of getting a decent night sleep in the hospital!

I had DS last year and he was admitted to NICU. Luckily it was quiet on the postnatal ward so they let me stay for 13 nights so that I could visit DS all times of the day and night. He was quite poorly and I guess the were staff sympathetic because he was full term and no one understood why he was ill.

Anyway, I was there so long that I’d turn off the lights in the room once it hit about 11pm. I’d also close the door. If someone left the door opened then I’d close it again. I frequently told other people on the ward to ‘shh’ and I listened to classical music throughout the night. All whilst recovering from a C Section and then an infection on the wound on top of that🙂

People shouldn’t have to do this though! Nursers and HCA should be a bit more considerate. I understand that they’re just working their usual shift so may not even realise the time but it’s quite frustrating. Don’t even get me started on the noise that people within the same room as you make.

Hope you manage to get some rest and feel better soon OP x

I recently spent 5 nights in hospital - induction ward then maternity ward. I wanted to stay in the delivery room because it was so peaceful. I'd spent 2 nights on the induction ward and didn't sleep due to the incessant beeping of machines and if I wasn't woken for obs or gel then someone else was. Baby and I didn't sleep on the maternity ward either because it was so bright and loud day and night. I kept crying and some judgemental midwives thought I was having a breakdown. When we got home, we slept so well and I no longer felt delirious.

If you have to stay in, in my experience the only way to get what you want in an NHS hospital is to make a massive fuss to every single person who speaks to you. (Sadly.)

Do you have someone who can advocate for you?