To think night staff could be a bit quieter

It's funny how the NHS loathes 'frequent flyers' but ensures that hospitals only work for those who have stayed in them before.
I don't know if it's due to first name, last name or NHS number, but in my recent stays, I've been moved several times at midnight with no warning, arriving groggy in a new location that gives no clue as to its ward or unit name or number.
A leaflet or a webpage for a first-time in-patient would greatly reduce stress and let patients get the much-needed rest that will help their recovery.
Sadly, not enough room to talk about the 12 to 24 hour delays in discharge for patients requiring no care arrangements - almost as though there isn't a bed shortage.

This is so true OP, they're so noisy...chatting and waking you up, even in the children's ward, waking the little ones up every hour. They don't have matrons anymore do they? Someone to tell them to please shut up. Also they other people in the ward, on their bloody phones all night, tapping and chatting...i am angry on your behalf..can you tell?!

My lowest point was when they asked my mother if I was mentally unwell and she said, no. She hasn't slept for three nights.

It is shockingly bad OP. So many bad practices. It must set people’s recovery back by days. I just hope you get well quickly so you can go home asap.

Can't sleep and terrible food (and in my last hospital stay the fridge door fell off on the patients room so couldn't even store our own food). It's crazy and counterproductive.

God all the above!

Can i just add - clanging fucking bin lids 😡

On the induction ward (6 beds) a few years ago my bed was right next to the loo door and the bin for hand towels was at the end of my bed for some god damn reason.

EVERY TIME someone went to the loo, day or night, and every time someone wanted to put anything in the bin ...

CLANG !!!!!

I was so tired and weepy and desperate for sleep before the third night (waiting for a delivery suite to become available) that in the evening i packed my stuff to go home, while DH and midwives paniced and flapped about at the bottom of the bed.
Magically a bed became available before i got out of the main doors.

Most people don't require this

I had a baby at Christmas. The postnatal
ward was actually fine, relatively quiet but at 1am on Christmas Eve the nurses started belting out jingle bells and shaking a tambourine then cackled for about half an hour.
cue babies and mums woken up immediately.
if I’d been able to walk after my c section I would have gone round to the desk and murdered someone while humming jingle bells myself.
and by murdered I mean ask meekly if they could keep the noise down 😂

This could explain your obs. If your temp is high and most likely a few others due to being in pain and having an infection, the protocol staff will follow would state the frequency of the obs. You can decline them of course, but it would be standard on wards in my trust to still wake and ask every time the protocol says they are required (which sounds like 2 hourly in your area). Obs (amongst other things) are on targets by wards according to protocol, and failing to meet these targets can result in lowered budgets for that ward specifically, so staff are having to complete them as stated or they are pulled in by management. If your temp is consistently high too, they cant leave it unchecked for a whole night while your sleep, they have to regularly check. Its awful having sleep interrupted so frequently, but nurses and HCA's are just following the protocol, and even if just one area is out of range, all obs have to be rechecked like your blood pressure too.

Eye mask, ear plugs etc all help, but the hospital cant provide these things for you - can a relative bring them in?

I did a report on sleeping in acute hospital settings back in my uni days, and its awful, i hate waking people, but alot of the time it is unavoidable. However, staff noise and lighting should be reduced once night time meds are done, it should be standard. I would ask to speak to the ward manager during the day, quite often there isnt management on at night. Explain how you are feeling, that you havent slept in 3 days, that medication as simple as paracetamol when you have a high temperature is taking 2+ hours, acknowledge your understand its a 24 hour job and theres going to be noise, but ask if theres anything that they can do to help you sleep.

Zopiclone requires a dr to prescribe which is often a nightmare on nights, but you can ask for them to see if someone can prescribe it today so you have the prescription ready for the night - or if your have a dr review today ask them yourself and explain you are getting no sleep and generally the drs are agreeable if it has been a few days. Then at evening meds round, ask the nurse to double check it has been added to you prescription ready for the night meds round so theres time to resolve it if it hasnt.

@Lobelia123 are you a nurse?

Of course you have no control of the noise of other patients but do you not think it’s inconsiderate for nurses to sit at a nurse station talking loudly and laughing in the middle of the night?

YANBU. I was in hospital for a week for a week recently with sepsis and the nurses were so, so loud - loud, animated conversations right by my bed, shrieking with laughter, shouting to their colleagues on the other side of the ward... yes I know it's their normal work shift but FFS they must realise the impact on the patients who they're meant to be caring for?? It's not that hard to keep your voices down a bit, I wouldn't even make that much noise in an open plan office because I wouldn't want to disturb my working colleagues, let alone a room full of very sick people! ! It was annoying because the actual care I was receiving was great but it was all coloured by the impact of having no sleep and burning resentment against the night shift.

For the first three nights I managed maybe one or max two hours of crappy semi-sleep a night and by the end of it I was almost constantly in tears, shaking with exhaustion and on the verge of discharging myself even though it wasn't safe to do so because the lack of sleep was making me feel so much worse. I also have some quite severe mental health issues and the stress of it all was pushing me to the brink. I also asked for something to help me sleep (I have previously been prescribed zopiclone) but this was refused for reasons unknown.

Thankfully after the third night the doctors decided my form of sepsis was too contagious to be on the ward and I got a private room. I was obviously still being woken up for OBs and to have my drip changed etc which is of course necessary and absolutely fine, but the peace and quiet otherwise saved my sanity.

Phew, rant over 😅. Fingers crossed for your speedy recovery OP x

if he didn’t pass gas out the back end!

Do you mean fart? 😂😂

@Lobelia123

Settle down and find somethign worthwhile to pick a fight over, but find someone else to have your keyboard tussle with

I'm not combative. You are accusing me of immaturity, picking fights, putting words into your mouth etc, and I don't mind because your little ego defences are an irrelevance to the thread.

@Mammyloveswine take no notice. You've got a valid point; nobody needs to be noisy whilst they get on with routine work. Sorry for the mini derail here!

Noise is a massive problem in hospitals. Please, please put in a formal complaint about it. The more people complain the more likely something will be done. Also, write to the papers, write to your MP. There is plenty of research that proves that noise in hospitals is a problem - but nothing seems to get done. Let's hope that some nhs managers read this post and actually address this issue.

NHS don’t have the resources to take patients on a wonder outside. If your parents were able to be taken outside you could of done it yourself.

@Watchkeys, I didnt respond because your hypothetical question was a bit silly. If someone were ill at work, of course Id try to be considerate. But equally a 'cracking headache' would imply they probably werent fit to be at work and should be at home. People in hospitals are sick. Sick people are often noisy. They groan, snore, talk loudly on phones, have inconsiderate visitors etc. Staff move in, speak to each other, consult, have to wake patients up for meds, bloodwork etc. If you are in a public ward and not a private room, theres going to be noise. The original poster is probably in pain and so triggered easily. For the staff, its another 'day at the office'. Thats the reality. i dont know why you are so combative. Settle down and find somethign worthwhile to pick a fight over, but find someone else to have your keyboard tussle with.

That is disgusting

When I had DS3 34 years ago, I left because the loudly cackling nurses were discussing how it was 'good' that a local murdered girl was 'only' a prostitute.
This was also as 2am. No Professionalism or care at all with those particular staff.

It's definitely an NHS thing.I had similar when had to stay in hospital overnight while pregnant.
Fast forward to couple of years ago,had a private hospital stay and everyone had their own rooms there was a menu for food and you could buzz for a hot drink whenever you wanted.Ficking bliss it was.

I didn't put any words in your mouth. I asked you a question.

You didn't answer it, though. Wonder why?

People can work loudly or quietly, can't they? Are you in denial about that basic fact?

I work with colleagues who don’t have a ‘night voice’ and it drives me mad so I’m sorry you’re having to go through this OP.

However if you are as ill as you sound we have to take your obs more frequently. Every time we do obs you’re given a score which alerts the medical team and your obs are done more frequently until you can be de escalated, if that makes sense. Some of our patients are on twice daily obs but they aren’t ‘ill’. And they should be asking your name and date of birth every time you are given medication to prevent it being given to the wrong person, which when you’re tired on a night shift can happen. I hope you recover soon.

OP if your pain isn't under control then ask to see the pain management team asap. They were brilliant when my pain was bad.

It’s shit, but standard. Personally I’ve always found fellow patients worse.

I'm a doctor and never had the energy to make much noise on night shifts. The only sounds you'd hear from me were if I desperately had to see a patient or the sound of me munching through the barage of snacks at the nurse's station (any self-respecting nightnurse brings a box of pringles and the biggest bag of Haribo they can find as a minimum) Earbuds and spa music on spotify is probably the best plan OP. Some noise can be helped and I totally get your complaint but often things still have to happen overnight too. Good luck x