Hospital ward CF stories

[SapphosRock]

Can anyone beat mine?

I was admitted to hospital today and so far the neighbour in the bed next to me has:

⁃	Stolen my pillow
⁃	Stolen my fan 
⁃	Moved her curtain around MY cupboard and put all her stuff on it - I now have nowhere to put anything 
⁃	Plugged her phone into my plug socket 
⁃	Had about 5 noisy visitors all of whom brought some kind of smelly takeaway
⁃	Had a nap. Snored her head off 
⁃	Complained loudly about everything and everyone on the ward disturbing her - all the other ladies are quiet as mice 

A lovely nurse is going to try and move me!

Quick! Snatch those pillows back and redistribute whilst this vile waste of oxygen is out having her fag!!

Mix of cfery and neglect. My ds years ago was admitted for asthma. Was in three days. On the last day I took him for a bath and discovered nits. He hadn’t got them when he went in. Mentioned to nurse, who sighed and said, “not again.” There was a child who was in for a long treatment but went home at weekend. Returning every time with nits. It meant all the staff and families needing to be checked and treated. They’d mentioned it to parents who just said “well we know you’ll treat him on Monday, so why should we”

The NHS really should be allowed to refuse to treat people when they’ve assaulted staff of other patients. I’m sure the threat of no health care would also stop people from behaving like shits as well. Thank god for Bupa though. I don’t think I could cope with this kind of nonsense if I was sick enough to requirehospjtalisation

I work in the hospital too and the amount of CF’ we get is unbelievable. I have been rushing around all morning doing bits I need to do one woman was watching me doing everything, she rang her buzzer and asked for her pillows to be buffed! Are you fucking joking me, a woman that was more than capable to get out of bed and self care. Sooo many more stories but people just treat hospital like a hotel they seem to just expect you to drop everything and do whatever they want when they want it. I have to bite my tongue ALOT!!!

Nothing to add, I just wanted to say I hope you get to move soon and that she sounds bloody awful. My guess is someone tried to mudder her and don't quite mange.

Hope you get moved soon, and can get as comfortable as you can in hospital.
When I was inpatient when having DD1 (preeclampsia so terrible headache) the woman in the next bed would put her tv on full volume then go to have a shower! The midwives would turn it off and reminds her when she reappeared to keep the volume “reasonable”. Clearly we had different versions of reasonable.
Also had some delights on paediatric wards with DD2. We frequently get side rooms, but not always possible. It’s generally always space stealing and/or loud tv. Hardly surprising when bed spaces are so small, but everyone is in the same boat.

One of my ex patients seemed ok but when she left we discovered she'd stubbed out cigarettes on a mattress therefore making it unusable.

Luckily it was an 'ordinary' mattress not an air mattress.

Some people really don't deserve the NHS. Get well soon OP.

I've been unlucky enough to have two emergency stays recently. First time I had to keep flat for four hours, finally dozed off and woke to find a confused woman in my bed space. Not a cf, but scared the crap out of me and I couldn't reach my buzzer as she had moved it.

Most recently I was in for five nights across three different departments. Assessed in A&E, put into a majors seated observation area where I was actually tutted at by someone that I asked to move (clearly one of the entourage that one person had brought with them to A&E) so that I could sit down. The final ward was women only, it was lovely initially until the third day when a lady was admitted and the entire extended family visited, including screaming toddlers well into the late evening. Myself and others were trying to recover from surgery and the children were running amok whilst the relatives chuckled away at how entertaining their children were. Final night and someone else is admitted, her partner then proceeds to vape in the ward!

I hope that you feel better soon and manage to get some rest.

A woman in the post natal ward after I had dd. She'd had a textbook vaginal birth, had her dp there all day and evening and a stream of other visitors, but seemed to think the staff were there to wait on her. Eg asking for them to come and pass her the baby when it cried.

On a children's ward, went to collect dc's evening meal and some entitled twat was loudly demanding the Hca provide meals for the entire family. And it certainly wasn't some desperately poor person that had budgeted for value beans at home and couldn't afford to buy their other dc a meal.

Different children's ward, family in next bay rammed their chairs, bedside table etc that far into dd's the curtain was in mid air over her bed, and they'd pinched the decent chair from dd's. Naturally when I came back with dd from the bathroom I asked them to move back over and for the chair back, and they told me they were visiting their child in hospital. Really, because dd & I and every other fucker are just here for a holiday.

Naturally when I came back with dd from the bathroom I asked them to move back over and for the chair back, and they told me they were visiting their child in hospital. Really, because dd & I and every other fucker are just here for a holiday.

This seems to be a common attitude! Do people really have so little awareness of others?! Don't understand how people lack the basic empathy to realise others are poorly too.

Well I can't sleep as neighbour is snoring her head off but at least I'm now opposite rather than next to her and have a cupboard, pillow and plug sockets. Apparently I'm still getting transferred to another hospital soon despite it being the middle of the night.

Thanks all for the well wishes,

Mine are the granny dumps in December.
One family dropped Granny off mid December expecting her to stay while they went on holidays for 6 weeks. They were most put out when Doctor discharged her day before departure.
Another one was family not wanting parent placed in an aged care facility as that was going to ‘ eat into our inheritance ‘.
You see the best and worst of people working in a hospital.

@SapphosRock hope you get at least a bit of rest & not too much of a nightmare transferring! Make sure you wake the CF when you go.

For all the nurses - I cannot begin to thank you for the great work you do & hate to hear these stories.

My DS was in & out of Great Ormond Street Hospital for 18 years and we had such incredible staff looking after him (& me - usually when I was in bits after he went under GA).

We were in another hospital when he was admitted with pneumonia. Toddler opposite dropped a toy - I picked it up & nurse had a go at me because his infection could have compromised my DS. His mum slept the night at hospital then left in the morning & he was alone all day. Completely unstimulated & not babbling or anything - so I spoke to nurse. They went nuts at mum when she reappeared & moved them into room opposite nurses' station. I had no idea ppl used it for babysitting!!

Let's hope her next neighbour is as lovely as she is

This is unbelievable. Is it because the NHS has always been available that people abuse it ?
Nurses should not have to monitor people's behaviour.Waste of their precious time.

I lived in US , with no free health care. Couldn't believe it when I moved to UK.

I was also in hospital in US. Badly behaved people , people with unattended children, were warned by Security that if it escalated, police would arrest them. Or Childrens Services called.( Not patient, but relatives). Heard this twice said.

Do hospitals now have to also have Security ? What a waste of resource and money.

Maybe Trump buying the NHS would be no bad thing.!.! ( Joking ! ).

Well I am still here but CF has gone! Her bed is empty this morning. Ward is lovely and peaceful.

The NHS is simply amazing and I can't believe people abuse it the way they do.

Dread to think how much this hospital visit would cost if I was in the US.

@QueenOfOversharing might the other child’s mother have been working / caring for siblings during the day so the only time she could spend with her child be over night?

The whole communal ward issue needs phasing out I have private health care through work and the biggest bonus during a recent hospital stay was own room and bathroom. The care was excellent too

One way to reduce the strain on the NHS would be to ban the CFs. I’ll bet they’d behave better if they knew they could be kicked out/refused care

My sil is a millionaire, who wouldn’t spend 2p on anyone else if she can avoid it.
When visiting a relative in hospital I asked if anyone wanted tea as we passes the coffee shop. No, everyone fine.
Arrived on the ward and she smiled sweetly at the nurse and said “ Could you make tea for my father please?”
The nurse just looked at her.
Then she added “ Its very important he stays hydrated!”
Nurse made tea, more fool her, I’d have told her the cafe is downstairs. My fil was visiting, not the patient. She just wouldn’t pay for a cup of tea.
She is a massive CF though.

I work in the NHS and by far the most infuriating CFers are the "regular" types who are well known withing the hospital and are very entitled - often younger people with alcohol or addiction issues (I know that may be a controversial statement but I'm just saying what I see!) - demanding their pain meds the second they are due, stating their pain score is 10/10 then immediately toddling off for a fag as soon as they've had said pain meds. These are the people who ring for a cup of tea every half an hour day and night and don't like it when you say they'll have to wait as you are attending to another patient. They're the ones who threaten with legal action if you don't do their bidding, they know exactly how to work the system. You know that once they've been discharged they'll be back in a few weeks.

Other situations where I feel sorry for the other patients is when there's a confused patient in the bay with them who keeps everyone awake all night. I've regularly seen patients threaten to bash each others brains out through sheer frustration and watched a nurse colleague wrestle a walking stick from a patient as he had it raised above the patient in the next beds head - he bloody meant it!

Once had a family in to visit who repeatedly allowed their very young children to run up and down the corridors full pelt. They didn't seem to understand when repeatedly told how dangerous this was (germs on floor, equipment, wobbly elderly people). Get a babysitter or don't bring them!

Also get CF families bringing elderly people in for some suspected illness then buggering off for a Xmas holiday - nothing wrong with the elderly person the family just don't want to look after them over the festive period. Happens every year.

Do you think you’ll have to be in for long OP? Enjoy the peace of the ward while you can and get some rest!

Velveteenfruitbowl

Thank god for Bupa though. I don’t think I could cope with this kind of nonsense if I was sick enough to requirehospjtalisation

Poor, delicate entitled you.

What would you do instead of "coping"? Die?

The OP obviously has to be in hospital and is having to cope with the reality that some people are really horrible indeed. Is she just better at coping than you, so that's okay then?

Mind you, the horrible people include many people on Bupa. They can be amongst the most unpleasant on a ward. And, in an emergency, you'll need the NHS and be on an NHS ward anyway.
Bupa won't send an ambulance for your heart attack.

I'm sure Bupa's great for having comfy pillows, bed neighbours who are more "like you" (may or may not be a good thing) and - if the adverts are true - getting to call the doctor by their first name: "She saw Sally, the doctor...". If that's important to you.

I was a doctor (only a house officer at the time) who was part of a team who saved a man's leg. It took eight hours.
On the ward round afterwards the first thing he said was: "I'm in Bupa. When can I be moved?".

CFs come from all walks of life.

God its so depressing reading this. There are such vile people around. I agree with pp’s (velveteen and Hermione I think) who said that we should be able to ban tossers who abuse the nhs.

Bring back visiting hours and terrifying matrons who ruled with a rod of iron!! And kick the CF’s out!!

@EleanorLavish I would have politely told your SIL where the kitchen or water fountain was.