To think night staff could be a bit quieter

Perhaps you need to take out a private medical plan.....

Hi they cannot turn the lights if too early as the nurse has to be able to see in order to check wounds ,do medications and toilet and give pressure area care to patients.Get your relatives to bring in an eye mask and ear plugs .

Ahh I hear you and 100% agree. I was in hospital for 4 months, it was awful. After having major surgery all I wanted was sleep but never got it until I got home. I now unfortunately have some complications and have to go back for more surgery in a couple of weeks, I'm dreading it!!

I hope you feel better and get home soon xx

I have a bag in which I keep things I might need for a hospital visit, living alone I thought it would be helpful just in case! I’ve got all sorts of things, some essential and some items to help me pass the time. After reading this thread, I just added a face mask and ear plugs! If I’m not careful, the bag will get too heavy to carry!

I spent 72 hours in the maternity HDU with my curtains open the entire time while an endless stream of excited new parents and their (thankfully) alert babies were wheeled in and out (I was the only who had to stay for that long while I was there which was awful in itself) while trying to establish breastfeeding with a sleepy newborn and hooked up to what felt like 10000 wires, not allowed to drink/eat properly in that time because everything had to be carefully monitored, I had a lot of people come and visit me and the baby despite me not wanting them there and the staff didn't do anything to get them to leave either (I do understand this should have been my job but I was in an awful position), one midwife who seemed to take pleasure in berating me for not being prepared (I'd been brought in by ambulance on blue lights, I didn't think to ask them if they'd stop by my house to grab the hospital bag 😒) and telling me off for trying to pick up my crying baby after I'd had a c-section even though nobody else would do it for me..........hospitals are horrific places and the lack of sleep is torture.

They tried telling me I was showing signs of PND when I burst into tears after a 5 days of no sleep and an extremely traumatic birth. I have a lot of respect for all NHS staff and nobody does that job if they don't care - but as a patient, yes it's awful being in hospital!

Yes, not restful places you would expect. Next time I'm going to make sure earplugs, headphones to listen to relaxing music and a fan as so hot! X

Omg I know and what’s even worse is when you are in with a poorly baby and it’s taken hours to lull them to sleep so that you can actually rest yourself for all of 5 mins and they come bounding in talking loudly and banging around 😵‍💫

I’m a nurse of many years. Recently been a patient due to cancer. ( doing ok atm)
night time noise keeps me out of hospital. I literally refuse to be admitted. Feel dreadful through lack of sleep. Even in a side room it was terrible. Grateful for the care but the noise issue should be addressed.

You’re not being unreasonable. It’s out of order, I genuinely can’t get my head around how no one seems to understand how important rest and sleep are, I can’t even be bothered to go into the behaviour I’ve experienced and witnessed from staff on the night shift… sane in care homes. I have a friend who inspects care homes who’s at their wits end with staff who just slam lights on, laugh at the top of their voices, stick radios on for themselves, hoover, yup hoover…. It’s insane!

Last time I was an inpatient on night 1 they moved about six patients, myself included, from a medical admission ward at 2.30 am , night 2 , one of the staff ran through the ward shouting at gone midnight looking for a patient who had done a runner, night 3 they admitted a very ill patient who had been transferred from another hospital about 2 hours away at about midnight, then proceeded to tell her that she may not survive her operation and to phone her family to say goodbye there was only the obligatory curtain between us, by this time I got up and and told the staff I had to go for a walk. Thankfully I was discharged the next day.

Oh god yes, you are so no being unreasonable. Impossible to get any rest in hospital. I don't know how all these medical professionals are apparently so oblivious to the healing benefits of sleep.

Really depends if the person is mobile. If they like you are very poorly they might not be able to get to the toilet at the moment. I have EDS and I don’t react well to certain medications especially after surgery. And for my safety (I have heart issues due to EDS) if I stand up after ops I will drop like a sack of potatoes, my blood pressure will drop or rise dramatically especially after surgery. Make my heart go wild and I have to sit in bed with heart monitor on. And if take an about a week till I start to feel stable on my feet. Iv had 3 surgeries and due to my heart they will not allow me to get out of bed. Not ideal but what can I or they do. Iv had 3 kids most likely shit myself during that so really.. are we not past the embarrassment of poo. Especially in a hospital with very poorly people. I think ur getting a little cranky due to lack of sleep. Unfortunately when you sleep things like heart rate and blood pressure can drop or raise dramatically when you are ill. so they have to monitor you incase you like die in their care you know. I think ur being unreasonable and unrealistic when ur in a open ward others may not be managing as well as you are with toileting. And you need to just suck it up and get on with it.

I'm not convinced, anyway. I've experienced the kind of loud chatter and crashing around some people describe on this thread, but it's the exception, not the rule. Plenty of medical professionals on night shift don't do it.

If you really can't manage a night shift without making unnecessary noise to keep yourself awake, it would be fairer to patients not to take on these shifts.

I'm glad to say 1 of my local hospitals which is new has a room for every single patient. Great for privacy. And in the children's ward there is a pull out bed for a parent to stay with them.

I've had to stay in for a week twice, in the respiratory ward so it was 5 little old ladies and me, a 20something woman.
The night nurses seemed to decide that the woman next to me who yelled NURSE! NURSE! every half an hour had become annoying and could therefore be ignored, along with the lady who had rung for the toilet an hour ago.

Me, being now ambulatory as I was waiting to be discharged unlike the other tottery old ladies on IVs and catheters, eventually walked over to the desk that was in sight of the beds where the nurses had been having a good old chat about their holidays for the last 45 minutes, and told them there were two people on the ward that needed them.
The shock on their faces was quite a sight, especially when they claimed they hadn't heard anyone calling or ringing to the clearly audible backdrop of NURSE! NURSE! from about 30 feet away...

You do have to chat to keep yourself going.

Perhaps some basic training on volume control for these ‘chats’ would be useful then.

You really cannot compare a flight to a hospital though. Hospitals are busy places, day and night. There are stressful situations going on all around you that you are unaware of. I really don't think anyone can judge nurses if they have never worked a nightshift on a ward. Someone mentioned a staff room - ha! The ward I worked on was so short staffed every shift that we had to take our 'break' at the nurses station.

working nights is awful, you don't sleep before your first shift obviously as you have just had a nights sleep, so you end up up for 24 hours at least straight before you can get into bed. So believe me, we understand tiredness. You do have to chat to keep yourself going.

As for their response to your request for a face mask and ear plugs, no the NHS do not provide these. Have you had no visitors who can bring you things in? If not, is there anyone you can ask to pop in? The nurse should have responded with more compassion though, you are obviously beside yourself with exhaustion. Laughing at you is disgusting behaviour.

Whilst I agree that lack of sleep is absolutely horrendous (its why I moved away from hospital based work), and staff absolutely should be considerate of the patients, there are unfortunately many essential tasks that need to be done, such as obs. You can of course decline these, but I would be wary of that given you feel that have missed how unwell you are.

Have you tried asking for a side room? It seems only fair they consider it for you given the situation. I would recommend looking for feedback forms so you can leave feedback regarding the situation.

I agree the hospital environment in no way aids recovery. In my place the crap food is another huge issue!

I was in hospital for 6 weeks and by the end of it felt worse than when I went in. Earplugs are your friend, I have foam ones.

I feel you pain and hope you are better soon

A good example would be a long flight, at night the crew do work quietly and are respectful of people's need to sleep.

This, absolutely.

People aren't stupid. It's not the medical care and ovs thats an issue. It's the unnecessary noise that is aggravating

Exactly.

And the bizarreness of not realising that in interrupting sleep they are prolonging recovery times

I don't think anyone is disputing that medical care needs to happen. I think everyone accepts necessary noise is essential. It's the unnecessary noise that should be kept to a minimum.

A good example would be a long flight, at night the crew do work quietly and are respectful of people's need to sleep.

I ended up seriously ill as a result of several weeks sleep deprivation from staying in hospital with my so (he slept all night but he slept very soundly as a child) I ended up on sleeping tablets and if undoubtedly cost the NHS a fortune.

Everyone knows how vital sleep is. So why is this not treated with more importance in a hospital environment?

I have a condition that means long hospital stays are likely, and in the Facebook group for people with my condition it is the noise at night and consequent lack of sleep that causes them such distress when they are admitted (decent sleep is particularly important for our condition)

I completely agree, it’s not the same because only in a night or two but I found the same when I was in having the babies, I did think at the time, how does anyone heel in this environment? Hope you get better soon! Maybe ask if someone could bring you some earplugs and a good eye mask?

Thanks for acknowledging the issue. It's good to hear that a medical professional is aware of what's happening and that staff could be more considerate.

Nobody is disputing the noise from emergency care/taking obs, it’s the chit chatting and laughing when patients are trying to sleep which is unreasonable. And no attempt to lower their voice.