Things to pack for a hospital stay?

[1989jubjub]

If you've been to hospital to stay for a couple of weeks, is there anything you would recommend to pack other than the obvious?

So far apart from toiletries, clothes, etc, I've thought of: iPad, kindle, earphones, maybe colouring book (?). But I'm sure there must be more things and I don't want to get to hospital and then think "oh no I should've taken X/Y/Z".

Anything that made your stays slightly more comfortable?

The last time I was in hospital for anything major was abdominal surgery and a friend (who is a senior midwife) bought me a pair of Crocs.

I laughed uproariously because they were seriously NOT to my taste, but boy, was I grateful - I couldn't bend over to put normal slippers on, plus they were lightweight, slipproof and waterproof.

(We ceremoniously burned them when I got home, though 😄)

@Kazzyhoward Fully agree with you on this.

@Nannyfannybanny
So what do you expect patients to do? 2 weeks in hospital, feeling rubbish, missing friends/family, not being able to sleep from constant noise is a very long time. There is a direct link between mental and physical health. Forcing patients to vegetate, bored out of their mind for weeks on end is hardly the way to achieve this. I am very glad that the nurses I work with and the ones that cared for my DD are nothing like you. On her paediatric ward normality was encouraged as much as possible, the way it should be.

I came out of hospital just before Christmas.
At my pre admission appt the nurses and consultant told me to bring anything to help make me feel at home as I was so anxious. Favourite bedding, laptop, headphones whatever. They wanted me to feel as happy and relaxed as possible.
I had bad nights due to pain and would have struggled withut the distraction of watching things on my lap top(with headphones) or using my phone to message loved ones.
The lists aren't ridiculous and you don't sound very compassionate.
Things were never in the way of the staff and they all said I was absolutely fine.

Lip balm
Hand cream
Phone and charger
Snacks
Puzzle book

Lip balm definitely but make sure it doesn't contain petroleum (Vaseline ones all do) as if you require oxygen you shouldn't use it. I was given a 'hospital approved' lip balm instead. Definitely agree with much of the above, two weeks is a long time. I was in hospital for 5 1/2 weeks last year and without something to distract me I would have been utterly miserable. I also found it helpful to change into a loose fitting dress after breakfast for a bit of normality but this obviously depends on how mobile you are etc.

Well,40 years of nursing only one patient said I wasn't kind or companionate, she was actually completely mobile, walked down the ward to find me (was doing the drug round,in the end we had tabards saying "please do not disturb during drug round". It was something very simple she could have done herself. I went up to her (right up other end of the ward) said sorry to keep you waiting how can I help,it wasn't good enough! Hospitals of course are for the care of the patients, they have to be for the convenience of the staff as well. You definitely wouldn't have wanted to be on the main wards there, you would have been extremely ill. I always went the extra mile thanks. 23 hours, unattended, with 4 hourly minimum observations, blood tests,drug rounds,repositioning, different interventions , toileting, showering, bathing, emergencies, portable X rays, physio and occupational health visitors. Yup,you would be really bored.

Dry shampoo and hair ties.
A 3 ft charging cable probably isn't long enough - I used a 5 ft in hospital recently, which was just long enough.
Flip flops or similar plasticky slippers that you can rinse off in the shower. Not fluffy ones!
Baby wipes or face cleaning wipes so you can freshen up in bed when a shower is feeling like too much.

Earplugs and eye mask, your own pillow, comfortable 'lounge' clothes as well as nightwear, maybe some cup-a-soup type things and nice coffee bags as the instant stuff there is revolting.

@Nannyfannybanny The more I hear the worse I feel for your poor patients. What a complete lack of compassion or understanding

‘23 hours, unattended, with 4 hourly minimum observations, blood tests,drug rounds,repositioning, different interventions , toileting, showering, bathing, emergencies, portable X rays, physio and occupational health visitors. Yup,you would be really bored.’

Are these meaningful or enjoyable interactions? Absolutely not. Patients need normality, not institutionalised. It has been proven that normal day to day activities (eg: just being able to simply watch TV) whilst in hospital massively improves outcomes and lessens discharge times, especially in older patients. Having been through major surgery both myself and with my own DD distractions like silly reality TV programs, movies, music etc just to take your mind off things prove invaluable when you’re sitting there miserable and unable to do anything for yourself.

I think Nanny would be better working on a farm, as she clearly thinks patients should be treated no better than cattle!

@Kazzyhoward I’d have to agree.. a very old fashioned and thankfully rare sort of thinking in healthcare nowadays though, thank goodness!

Hand held fan - some wards are already boiling hot and hot flushes and nausea are common when recovering from anaesthetics