Do nursing staff not wash patients anymore or change sheets?

I’m a nurse and I am going to very strongly disagree with you on this, it’s actually quite offensive, and such a misguided assumption that because nurses now have a degree they won’t ‘nurse’. Nurses now have degrees because they are now asked to take on so much more than they ever did in the past, tasks that doctors would have performed years ago are now being asked of nurses, trust me when I say you want someone who could handle a degree to be your nurse. Anyway OP - they should be changing the sheets? I’ve not worked in a hospital setting for sometime but yes that was usually done daily. Often with younger patients they are a little less precious, often leaving them their independence and dignity of not having someone wash them (especially teenagers/very young adults) but they would usually ask. Can your daughter wash herself at the moment? I was in hospital last year (I’m 39) and they changed the sheets daily but could see I could wash and shower independently.

I hear you.
28 years ago i hemorrhaged after giving birth. I bled for 2 days, was covered in dried blood from waist to knee, not washed until the third day. And the nurses were really huffy about being asked to lift my baby so i could breastfeed - i had a cannula, and bled every time i moved....

Morale aside- it is your job and you’re being paid for it. You do 12 hour shifts but you are not doing them 5 days a week.

I've unfortunately in the past had several week + long stays in hospital, all but one of the times I was fully mobile beds were made daily, I think sheets changed every other day. After surgery I was assisted with washing, bed baths until I was able to walk to the bathroom.
The last time I was an inpatient was 9 years ago so I'm not sure if things have changed now.

I hope your daughter makes a quick & full recovery 💐

When I spent 4 days in hospital a while back it was expected ( if you were able ) to wash yourself and dress in clothes and sit in the chair beside your bed during the day
They bought a bowl of water to the bed and assisted those less mobile.
The sheets were changed daily .

I hate these threads - why not (after the event) say ward X in Hospitam Y the nursing staff left patients lying in blood - or even name the bad staff - the upshot of all the complaining is that it gets generalised to -the nhs is crap when in fact it’s only some parts of it

When I was in after a difficult birth with DD, my sheets were soaked through with blood and goodness knows what. Despite asking multiple times, the nurses were more interested in chatting about their holidays and divvying up a cake one of them had baked. In the end, I stripped the bed myself and asked for clean sheets to do it myself, despite being in no fit state to do so. I had been lying on those dirty sheets for 3 days at that point. I honestly believe those 10 days in hospital contributed massively to my PND - I had to fight at every turn for even the most basic care.

Hope your daughter is soon better @keepswimming38

I don’t have any experience with young adults in hospital but I do remember when dd was little and often in hospital.

I was surprised that the nurses didn’t do what I would think of as nursing at all. That was all the parents. That caring, looking after side of things.

Nurses were all about bringing round the medicines, doing obs and that sort of thing.

Ask to speak to the nurse in charge and tell her your concerns.

Find out who her named nurse is, they should do rounds when shift changes and introduce themselves, and ask about washing and bed changes. They are trained to change sheets without the patient needing to be out of the bed.

There are ways to move a bedbound patient so they can be washed and have a fresh bed. OP would need help though, it's usually a 2 person job.

Are you sure they're not doing it when they're not there? I would always do patients prior to visiting times. You say she can't really move or talk has she had a poop in them 3 days?
why've you not spoken to the staff?
its easy to say they're sat at computers not rushed off their feet, thats what you see that's not what they're doing. We do all our patient jobs in the morning (you know washes, meds, dressings ect) then catch up with notes when patients are less likely to need you- such as visiting times)

I hope your dd gets better soon OP - and dont be scared to stand up for her, you dont have to be rude or aggressive about it - just ask thr nurse what the procedure is for cleaning/sheet changes as you've noticed nothings being done.... then when you know how often it should be done, be annoying until it is done.

I am in Scotland, and that’s not been my recent experience. The HCA’s change the sheets every day, if the patient is mobile. Otherwise ,it will be less frequently as it will need 2 of them to move the patient.

My MIL was in an acute geriatric ward and was not even changed into a nightie.

Her soiled trousers were swopped for hospital pj bottoms, but she lay in the bed , in her blouse and cashmere, with her ‘pearls’ round her neck for two days until DH & I could get to her.

We were told by the Dr that she should be capable of showering herself. A 90+ year old with heart failure.

So no, some parts of Scotland are no better.

Op, hope your daughter gets well soon. Must be a scary time for you both 💐

If she’s too weak to move won’t washing her and changing the bed be traumatic?

it was the same 40 years ago when our DSs were in and out a lot with chronic asthma. Nurses chatting at their station, kids crying and dirty.

The worst time was when my Dad was in hospital following a heart bypass. he was improving well so was moved to a different ward to free up his bed. He was next to an old man who was, sadly obviously at end of life. He had defecated and the small was vile. Dad said he'd been like that for at least an hour. I went to the nurse's station where they were sitting and chatting and told them - although the whole ward stank and thy must have known.

They said there was no ancillary available and it wasn't their job. I said I'd wait until the man's family arrived and tell them how long they'd left him lying in his own shit. They changed him.

It seems to be now due to staff shortages. I was outright told when my son was in hospital that they don't have enough staff to do personal care and it is the responsibility of the parents.

They did all of the medical stuff but washing, brushing teeth, changing sheets, toileting etc was all for parents to do.

I had enough stays in hospital last year to get frequent flyer points! Clean sheets every day. HCA got me to the bathroom.
You need to be more vocal. Ask for washing items and clean sheets ( of course you'll need to get help to get your DD into the chair).

I get that you'll be worried and frightened but the hospital needs to do it's job.

(Oops, quoted wrong post)
I was a nurse back in the 1980s, and it was seen as an important part of patient care, not just for cleanliness, but infection control, looking for signs of skin breakdown, bedsores etc.

“From what I have seen nursing went to pot when they made it a degree course…….”
I fully agree . The same thing happened in Ireland.

Can you really not see the problem with the provision of personal care in hospital being dependent on patients being able to advocate for themselves?

I think it depends. She has an acute illness.

Yes, this too, absolutely

Which hospital is she in? DH was in recently for an elective surgery and was for the most part very well looked after including washing. But the ward was strictly orthopaedic only, and not full. It was overall a very good nhs experience. He’s had surgery done privately before and this wasn’t very different. Hospitals and wards vary greatly. Sadly we’ve had lots of experience. If you are there with her ask for help, or what the process is regarding washing and bedding changes.