To think that there should be some sort of stimulation on a hospital ward

[offtoseethewizard64]

Dd is in hospital and due to her complex needs, I have been with her most of the time. There are no tvs or radios here (pay for view or otherwise). There is no 'day room' and many of the patients are bed bound, most are retirement age (but not all) and some have been here for over 2 weeks.
Aibu to think that some sort of stimulation and keeping in touch with the outside world via news channels would aid recovery. It is a long day to be sitting staring at nothing.

I was in for a week recently, it is hard to concentrate on reading. The friends came round selling newspapers and puzzle books. I had my phone with a radio on it which was a life saver, some people paid for TV but i couldnt get mine to work, and tbh it didnt seem worth having to pay to watch crap TV.
Mostly people were dulled into sleep, which isnt a bad thing I guess.

Insensitive, hawaii? The whole thread is full of posters bewailing the fact that they can't watch tv while stuck in hospital...

There just arent the funds, but you are right, it would be nice

I work in a Hospice and we have free TV, WiFi, CD players, Complementary therapists to give massage, a library, day room, smoke room, beautiful gardens/ Aviery / fishpond etc. I guess the difference is millions raised each year through fundraising.

Well, I guess it depends on the type of ward and how ill the patients are.
I was in hospital recently for a month. There was a pay TV by the bed but I didn't use it at all - I felt too ill to want to do anything, just saying good morning to the other ladies on the ward was enough stimulation. We were all in the same boat though so it was very peaceful.
As I got better they moved me to another hospital and the ward was really different in atmosphere - there were multiple visitors round most beds - all chatting away nicely and the TVs blaring as well. Obviously they all felt in need of stimulation but I just wanted to curl up and sleep.
In the end I discharged myself against medical advice because I just couldn't stand the noise!!!

Until recently, I had to spend a couple of weeks in hospital every few months having IV treatment. I loved it. Fully loaded Kindle, Netflix, regular tea deliveries to my bed, wearing PJs all day, no housework...

When dp was in for 2 weeks there was a telly on every ward but none worked!
He'd just received a devastating diagnosis and was left with too much thinking time. A tv would have been a bit of distraction for him. He couldnt read either due to a long standing eye problem.

I once spent 3 weeks in hospital, flat on my back, unable to speak, my right side not responding at all, with no entertainment. 3 weeks staring at a ceiling wishing that if I was going to die I'd hurry up and get on with it.

I could only read in short bursts because my left arm couldn't hold a book above my face for very long.

YANBU at all.

YANBU in your DD's situation, but you YABU to make a sweeping generalisation as not all wards are like this.

I'm just recovering from having spend over a month as an inpatient in an NHS hospital and we had free overhead TVs with Freeview, free WiFi (for all my MNing) and a day room with a huge TV.

On the ward I work on there is a TV in every bay and a TV in the day room with DVD player, donated by grateful patients.

Hope your DD gets better soon.

'Bewailing' makes it sound so trivial, yes there are people on hospital long term who would be too ill for the need for any enetertainment, and there are people who are long term I'll for whom things like TV help you keep going.

I was in hospital for 4 weeks on a cancer ward, with no tvs except in the private rooms (no 'cool stuff' there), dh was 160 miles away for most of the time, so no visitors (and we were quarantined for 4days due to a hospital borne infection, so rarely saw a soul). There were people there with a variety of cancers, some who died on ward, and some who whilst very very sick, did make a recovery. I was bed bound, it was bloody grim, and yes a TV would have made the world of difference.

I was in HDU a few months ago. I couldn't sleep because the alarm on my drip went off every time I moved, couldn't read because the morphine made my head spinny, only sport on the tv. No visitors because DH and inlaws were looking after the dc's. I just lay there and cried most of the time.

When DS4 has been in hospital there are always things to do. TV, sensory stuff, art and craft, games. Something for everyone.

YABU.
Hospitals should spend their budgets on medicine and staff not entertainment.

I say this as someone who has stayed in hospital- a week in intensive care and weeks on a ward. You can always bring in your own laptop/ telly/dongle for wifi/ magazines/ books if you are actually well enough to enjoy that stuff.

The issue is that having something to do can reduce the time spent in hospital and symptoms. Not just TV but someone to speak to, another room to go to - a reason to get out of bed. A lot of people's mental health deteriorates when they go into hospital and occupational deprivation is a really important contributing factor. Older people often become much more anxious and dependent after a stay in hospital and end up with repeated admissions. So to say that medicine and staff should preclude having something meaningful to do when on the ward is short sighted - that said, no more short sighted than the idiots commissioning and managing services at the moment who only care about doctors, nurses, medicine and symptoms as opposed to the people using the services and their whole lives.