Do nursing staff not wash patients anymore or change sheets?

When my df was in hospital last year on palliative care some of the nurses were shockingly uncaring.
A nurse sat in the bay on her mobile desk drinking Costa coffee whilst an old man kept asking for a cup of tea, and no he wasn’t nbm. She told him the tea trolley would be round soon which I knew was a lie.
My df started vomiting coffee grounds vomit and she wasn’t going to offer help until I called her over and then I had to tell her to fetch a doctor.

My uncle in another hospital got 5 chicken nuggets and 10 chips for his lunch the day I visited. He’s 91. He asked me what the chicken nuggets were. That wouldn’t fill my 4 year old dgc. His nurses were lovely though compared to my dad’s.

A colleague, 10 years ago, used to refer to the NHS as the No Hope Service, It’s unfortunately true in some areas.

I had a very traumatic birth and I was even more traumatised when I politely asked if someone could change my sheets - everything was so wet, stained (sweat, blood,etc) .I spent 4 days in soaked sheets, my husband literally bring me to blankets from home as I couldn't sleep. Staff was furious, told me "it's still clean ",etc. Very humiliating.

My friend is a nurse of 30 years standing and she goes mad about this. She works in cardiac Hdu and she said some of her colleagues wouldn’t even think about personal care for patients. She is run off her feet on nights , but says she strives to leave her patients fresh in a clean tidy bed, shaven if they are up to it .
She has improvised to wash hair and all sorts , I’m really proud of her
patient care.
I wouldn’t leave any of my elderly family in hospital these days without a daily visit.

🤔🙄

@keepswimming38 I wish your dd a quick recovery. Is this in Kent and part of the recent outbreak?

This was not my experience during a recent hospital stay. I will say though that the nurses on our ward (gastro) were busy doing the more medical stuff (drips, monitors, changing bags of various sorts) and the HCA helped w washing. Can't remember who did the beds but they were done every day too.

When my mil was in with a broken hip she was helped to wash every day.

I was on a ward where staff would sit around a table on their phones at times, and they never offered to shower my dad. I had to do it.

It is usual these days, yes. Especially if HCAs are in short supply.

My son was 8 at the time when he was in hospital in 2024 and I was told that washing him etc was my job as a parent.

I was bedbound in hospital last year for a week and they brought soap and a bowl of hot water daily. I preferred to wash myself but could have had help. I think your hospital is weird

@Ellaelle because after being in hospital recently I found I had to ask for care / get my family members to request it, so I was just asking if her condition meant she wasn’t able to ask for help herself, and perhaps her family members needed to step in.

Not acceptable i spend a lot of time in hospital and hca change bedding everyday and bring bowls of water round for washing every morning for people who are unable to shower themselves. Its worth a chat with them as it might be they have offered and your dd has refused as this stuff is usually done about 6am

Just ask for the bed to be changed and ask if she can have some help to have a wash. It's not great practice admittedly, but I wouldn't be worried about skin integrity on an otherwise healthy 20year old and they would have risk assessed her for dvt on admission.
I work in emergency care now but when I was on the ward we always changed the beds and offered to support personal care (paeds) @greengagejamandcrumpets nurses having a degree has been shown to have better outcomes and safer for patients, most nurses I know have no desire to become management or admin, most want to stay clinical

When I've been in it's normally the HCAs who change the beds and wash the patients needing help. The sheets are changed every morning.

At 20 is she able to advocate for herself and ask?

She should't have to, nor should her mum! She should be looked after by those who are paid to do so.

She is unwell with meningitis , why are you asking if she can advocate for herself. Think how bad you feel when you have the flu, I should think it's probably worse than that

@keepswimming38in that case in your shoes I’d be asking for them to do it, rather than waiting for them to offer! When I was in recently I had to ask for sheet changes to be more often, they weren’t doing it daily for most people. Definitely ask if they’re able to do personal care too or have facilities for you to help do it?

Glad to hear that some nurses still have a genuine vocation !

I’m a nurse. I will wash patients and change their bedding.
If they are not doing it ask them when they will.

No interest in being a manager!

Not in my experience no and it’s truly awful. They don’t seem to care about basic hygiene at all - no offers to change sheets, freshen up washes and when my nan was in my dad had to brush her teeth for her every day as the nurses wouldn’t do that either.

Sadly those days are gone and Nurses now see a nursing qualification as a step on a ladder to a hospital admin job.

At 20 is she able to advocate for herself and ask? Is she bed bound?

I was in hospital for 10 days before Christmas and they changed my sheets every day! They also helped me to wash. Hopingyour daughter recovers soon @keepswimming38

my DS had meningitis last year and the HCAs changed his sheets but I freshened him up.

meningitis is really dreadful. I'm sorry, I hope your daughter feels better soon.