Worst behaviour you’ve encountered in hospital ward

[Ithinkthatsenough]

I am probably being U and touchy in posting this as ive just spent the day in hospital having a late d&c...
on ward with 2 other ladies who were chatty, was fine and bearable this morning, after 1/2 hohri knew all about their admissions and problems, children’s schooling, then had to put my headphones in when they started on bowel movements.
I was having an op, cleary due to care, questions asked, they could hear eveyrthinf tooand quite a distressing one

I was 27 weeks pregnant with DS and having complications, so I was admitted to maternity unit. There was no room in delivery so I was placed in the postnatal ward. Next to me was a woman who'd just had a EMCS the day before, and had been on very strong painkillers. She had 3 children at home and her husband was the most vile man.

Among many things he -

• whinged about having to take care of the 3 kids at home while she had to stay in hospital for a few days due to her pain, even though her Mum was helping out.
• complained that there was blood in the patient toilet he wasn't supposed to be using.
• let his kids run riot around the ward, one kept coming into my bed area
• told his wife off for mentioning her painkillers as "you sound like a fucking smack head"
• went MENTAL because his wife's sister had gone to pick up their car seat that was reserved in a boutique in town, and then sister text her to say "I've covered the cost, that's my gift to the baby". Apparently this was the sister saying that he couldn't "provide for his own boy" and was an insult he stormed out and went to the sisters house to post the money through the letterbox. This was after he moaned about his MIL leaving the heating on because he'd had to put an extra tenner on the electric and she was "taking the piss" (while looking after his kids)
• shouted and swore at his wife for walking to the toilet bare foot. She said this is because he has OCD.

At one point when he left I asked if she was ok and told her she doesn't have to put up with that. She said it was normal

In the end he moaned so much about having to look after his kids that she discharged herself against medical advice. The midwife was begging her to stay in for 48 hours and said she'd only be re-admitted if she went now, and they couldn't prescribe the strong painkillers until the doctor came back, but he'd be a couple of hours. She didn't want to wait as her dickhead husband was in the car waiting for them. The midwife warned her she'd be in agony in a few hours, and the woman said it would be worse agony to leave the kids with her husband.

I often think about her and hope she and her children are happy.

Oh, and more importantly, for you OP.

Some of these, well, most of them sound bloody awful
What's this thing of partners being allowed on the wards 24/7? When were visiting hours abolished? (and why?)

a random rough girl basically hovering near my stuff/clothes/toiletries/bags as if she was going to steal something just before i was about to go to the canteen with a friend and her mum.

then telling me that she had gone home previously and taken her own canula out and it had 'sprayed everywhere'

being in a side room and some weird guy patient just walked into the room in the middle of the night, scared the shit out of me.

old woman using the ward phone that was on the nurses desk, shouting really personal stuff and derogatory about other patients (myself included) at the top of her voice down the phone to a relative. was actually really offensive.

being on a mixed sex ward for a short period of time and being told by a guy he had watched me change and then him making various sexual comments leading to me feeling completely unsafe.

people leaving the ward with canulas in to go to the local huge indoor shopping centre via bus. random guy visiting someone offering to bring me whiskey in (??!!).

Wow some absolutely awful sad posts on here. Destroys your faith in human nature.

Mine nowhere near as bad, but I was the victim of an anaesthetic "accident" after a fairly minor op. I knew I went down to theatre at around 1.30 pm but came round in recovery at 5.30! My dh had been ringing wanting to know where the hell I was. The nurse asked me how I was then injected me with morphine so I couldn't talk as I was so drowsy.

I was taken back to the Ward and the physio arrived and began hitting my back. I was completely bemused. I also had bruising to my chest.

I was told I would have to stay overnight on the ward. The next morning I heard the elderly ladies in the adjoining beds saying they thought I wasn't going to make it by the looks of it. So one came over and asked me if I really wanted my breakfast and proceeded to eat it. You couldn't make it up.

When I had my dd1, a doctor arrived on the ward with a number of students all very keep to look at my haemorrhoids. Worst thing was I had been at school in the same class with him.

The family that rocked up at 8pm to visit a tiny baby. The entire extended fucking family, as far as I could see. The kids played football on the ward, climbed all over the nurses station trying to answer the phones and open the ward doors, then at around 9pm the kids complained about being hungry and were told "we're spending time with Lily*" so they weren't going for dinner yet. Eventually they announced "we're off to the pub" and they all left, including both parents, who hadn't returned to their extremely poorly infant by the time my child was discharged the next afternoon

*Lily was not her real name

While going through fertility treatment I had to go into the hospital early one morning for a test. As I sat in the waiting room wondering what this would show the phone rang at the desk. The receptionist put the caller on hands free and I listened to her book a woman for an abortion. They took her name and address and everything. Patient privacy?? No such bloody thing!

I had given birth to my first baby 2 hours previously (very painful labour- back to back with epidural). I breastfed the baby, dressed her, got stitched up, had a bed bath as I was covered with my vomit and catheter changed. Breastfed new baby again. Was wheeled round to postnatal bay and fell asleep. 2 ladies one either side of me started making phone calls to their friends. It was 4 am and it lasted until 6 am when the nurses came round and opened all the curtains. I was shattered.

I had several hospital stays toward the end of my pregnancy. Most of the people were lovely but one or two were... interesting... shall we say. There was one woman who bragged constantly about smoking all the way through pregnancy to ensure a small baby (I wish I were making that up, I really do) she was also very concerned with having an Armani baby outfit (I think it was Armani, definitely super posh designer) for the bounty photographs. Then there was the girl who came in with a bleed who was ranting away on her phone all night about her fella and insisting she was going home as she couldn't sleep on a ward, she ended up getting a private room so she would stay. Oh and the one who's partner brought her some delicious smelling chips after we'd all had a decidedly lack lustre dinner. But that's mostly because I wanted to eat them.

Professional capacity:

Person lighting up while on oxygen knowing it was dangerous

Person shooting up in the showers

Man having a wank in full view of everyone else in old-fashioned Nightingale ward

Patient conducting drug deals in the corridors in a hospice

Patient and her boyfriend having a shag behind the curtains - she'd had a half-hearted OD after he dumped her, I assume they were now back together

Me being asked to placate angry patient who then ripped TV off wall and threw it at my head

Plus many many more...

Best thing ever:

Police bringing in drug sniffing dog to check room after patient had been in after possibly swallowing a stash. All worked stopped so we could watch the cute doggie

When I had my son and was on the ward, the woman in the bed next to mine asked the midwife if she could feed a newborn mashed potato!

Went into hospital in labour on Saturday morning and rang in advance to tell them I'm allergic to gluten. Was assured that they cater for allergies. Gave birth at 11pm on Sat night after being in too much pain to eat all day, and they couldn't feed me afterwards because they only had wheat toast and the canteen and cafe were shut! DH ended up driving to a garage to fetch crisps and sweets because I was starving. Same story on Sunday morning - breakfast was toast/cereal and I couldn't eat it and they had no alternative to offer. Neither could I have lunch because apparently you had to book main meals 24h in advance. They said "you can't have a main meal today but you can book one for tomorrow". So anyone who goes into hospital at night can't have a main meal the next day?

Sent DH out for a gluten free sandwich from M&S because I was starving. At 5pm they offered me a sandwich (having finally got hold of some gluten free bread) and I said "no thanks I'll wait for the evening meal". At 9pm I asked why the evening meal hadn't turned up - turns out the sandwich I was offered WAS the evening meal! (They didn't say that and anyway in what world do people eat the main meal at lunchtime and only a sandwich for dinner? And who eats dinner at 5pm? I thought they were offering a snack before dinner at 7-8pm!). Apparently by then it was too late as both canteen and cafe were shut. Sent DH out for gluten free Dominos pizza!

On Monday morning they gave me gluten free toast, the first and only meal I received during my 3 day stay. Was discharged before I could have the main meal I booked the day before!

Only thing was a medical thing. After being in hospital for 4 days Dr said we wont give you the treatment I had been having twice a day, that evening, to see how I am without it the next morning. Nurse came to gave me treatment that evening and I said Dr said I wasn't to have it.
Next morning still very ill Dr says, oh you declined treatment last night as you didn't need it, so you are well enough to go home! I was still pretty ill. I was actually too ill to really object much. Another patient who was outraged that I was going to be discharged, talked to the nurses on my behalf and it was agree I would not be discharged. But after that the nurses were decidedly off with me and went from being super helpful to barely acknowledging I was there.

Our hospital has a 4 bedded unit where women go after a c section for 12-24 hours whilst they are being more closely monitored and before being transferred to the ward.

Ds3 had been taken to NICU and I was dozing when the midwifes brought in a baby whose mother was in a side room so that she could get a sleep. The baby was parked close to my bed where ds would normally have been so not only was I constantly disturbed by someone else's baby but every visitor I had spent time cooing over the baby before I got the chance to say it wasn't mine.

A minor problem really but poorly thought out by the midwifes.

When I had my first miscarriage the person next to me was a trans woman - this was in 1992. She pulled back the curtains and proceeded to tell me what a miscarriage was really like - pulling up her skirt and doing motions - it was obvious she was a trans woman because she had no underwear on. I was in tears and very frightened and pushed the button for help as did the other women in the ward. I may have been shouting help.

Thankfully she was taken to a side room and I was apologised to the next day. I don't feel any badness towards her, but it was an awful experience.

Oh and to you OP. I understand.

DD was in a MH ward last year and got severely bullied by another patient. Told her that teenage girls were taking the piss and shouldn't be there. Picked on her because DD is tiny.So bad that DD wouldn't eat as she wouldn't go to the meal room cos of this patient.DD complained and was told that the bullying patient was sectioned so they could do fuck all about it. We complained on her behalf and DH who is a Mental Health nurse reminded them of their duty of care and they reluctantly decided they would move her. And then stated it will be a couple of days before they could do this. Ended up with DD losing the plot with the bully and chucking a book at her head ( not behaviour I would approve off, but DD was ill). Luckily other patients stood up for DD and bully was moved sharpish.

Sorry for your loss I hope your recovery goes well

Mine was when I had sepsis and the woman in the bed opposite just WOULD NOT SHUT UP! She even came over when I was spending some of my many sleeping hours asleep and sat on my bed talking to me she was of sound mind just odd

Then there was the woman who insisted on watching tv at full volume no earphones.

Or the girl in writhing pain screaming, parents complaining about how shit the staff were not managing her pain all at the top of the voices...turns out she just needed a fart...

I shared a room in early labour with a girl who had a large, loud knuckle-dragging family. She repeatedly asked her father to go and get her some Bacardi Breezers to tide her over as "they're only 4%."

Woke up in maternity unit to find midwife stealing nappies, wipes and cream from my locker. The ward had none and young girl, only 15, had come in with nothing for the baby. I'd have happily given her stuff, I'm sure someone who was awake would have as well but I didn't like the sneaky way she was doing it. She was very embarrassed and the stuttering explanation was interesting. I did give her the stuff at the end of it.

Pregnant woman in bed behind curtain next to me being told by gynae that she's tested positive for an STD, and her replying she's been married 20 years and never slept with anyone else, she had also passed her previous pregnancy's std panels. Then the very angry conversation that followed with her dh.. heard everything word for word.

On the post-labour ward and woman next to me's partner was talking to her like absolute crap. It was truly awful to hear. That and he kept bumping my baby's cot every time he walked down the side of his partner's bed as we were only separated by a curtain, he looked and saw it was a cot but didn't give a fook and continued to barge into it every single time.

A horrible woman who boasted about the new motability car she had just taken delivery of , and called it the "perk" of having a disabled child! When she was woken by the ward nurse to be prepared for her early call operation, stockings/ gown etc, she swore at her and racially abused her. she then left all her rings etc in full view on her locker when she was taken down, frobviously wanting to put in a claim for missing stuff later, I scuppered that by pointing it out to the ward sister who raised her eyebrows and took the stuff away. Sure enough when nasty woman came back she started effing and blinding about her missing jewellery and was most put out when it was returned to her. Her partner turned up at 9 with chicken and chips and massed children who ran around the ward until 10. I have to say I gave a little smile when at about half ten she puked it all up again, fortunately into a bowl.

In the light of some of the above not that bad, but when I was in a 4 bed high dependency neuro ward after brain surgery, one of the other ladies in the ward spent all of the time on the phone moaning to her OH/all and sundry late at night that she wanted to go home (didn't we all luv!) or outside having a cigarette with OH (I could just about get to the ward toilet on my own and the other two ladies were bed bound) . When I ended up back in ICU I was grateful that I had a room to myself again and didn't have to listen to her moaning. Probably not that bad in the scheme of things but as I had never stayed overnight in hospital before, even after having the DCs, it was a shock to the system.