Hospital bed curtains

[CurtainsAllowed]

Is it frowned upon to keep them shut?

Just had surgery, was in a LOT of pain (thankfully being managed now) and I am constantly being asked if I want my curtains around my bed opened.

I feel and look horrendous and am absolutely not ready to be having a chat with anyone else on the ward.
I just want to be left alone

Luckily I don't sleep after a GA so I was awake then until 7am

Machines are noisy too, mine went off at 1am, nothing life threatening, just needed a new bag but as it's not an emergency it took 1hr.
Luckily it was just me it kept awake, not the whole ward.
It went off everytime I unplugged it to use the loo too, multiply that by 6 people and possibly more than one machine each does not make for a peaceful time.

I don't sleep after GA's, either. I tell them that, but they never believe me until they come round and see me awake. I've even got up in the recovery room when the nurses' backs were turned (don't remember that, though).

If you're in the middle of the bay, it's particularly not safe or practical to keep your curtains shut. Nurses need to be able to see all patients, which they can't do if curtains are kept shut. It's not great for privacy, but it is the NHS at the end of the day, not a private ward or hotel service. I would suggest you mention if to your nurse, and ask to be moved next to the window when a bed becomes available. They'll do what they can, but they can only work with what they've got.

After having DS last year on postnatal ward the matron wouldn’t allow any curtains to be closed. If you closed them she’d just open them

I'm afraid I'd have told her to get lost or just discharged myself.
I hate being treated like a piece of meat.

but it is the NHS at the end of the day, not a private ward or hotel service.

and the primary goal should be the well-being of the patients. No one is saying that things can miraculously improve over night , but the idea that it's the NHS, put up with it because that's the best you deserve is outrageous.

If no-one is even considering improving the system, and admitting that is not acceptable, we are never going anywhere.

@expatinscotland

The OP isn't there to make life easier for the staff or other patients.

SO glad a lot of these wards are being phased out.

a thousand times this

Yanbu OP.

I was recently in hospital and was shocked at the experience on the ward. They say it’s single sex wards but male visitors have free access If anything I feel more vulnerable around a male visitor than a male patient who is also unwell. Discussing my detailed health background, personal info like pregnancy and LMP with a male visitor the other side of the curtain was eye opening.

When I was taken back to the ward the bay opposite contained several people gawping straight at me. It was noisy with TVs on. I couldn’t rest; I felt vulnerable due to the GA and with all that noise, so got dressed and left shortly afterwards.

No one is expecting 5* treatment, but it’s not ok that we’re expected to leave our dignity and our privacy at the door. Can you imagine the uproar if our GP appts were held in open bays with just curtains between us?

I find having my own TV is brilliant too, even if I can't sleep I can find something to watch in the middle of the night without disturbing others.
My mind has gone to some very weird places when wide awake at 3am with nothing to do.
(QUEH have internet and games on the Tv's too)

My room last week, you can't see the doors or Windows to the corridor but they are large and glass with blinds.
The bathroom is big and accessible with rails and shower seat.

You go ahead and shut the curtains if you can OP, it’s so undignified and horrible being on a bay where nurses keep opening your curtains. I was a few weeks post baby when I broke some bones and was in hospital for 2 weeks.. not only did I not want everyone watching me cry in pain/missing my baby but I was still bleeding post partum and unable to close the curtains myself or go to the loo, try changing a maternity pad on the bed when nurses keep swishing the damn curtains open with no warning and leaving them open, they also did it when I was on a bedpan! The indignity of it all made the whole experience much much worse.. I did not need constant supervision as I was just waiting on my surgery and I wasn’t obstructing any views of other patients.. totally unnecessary in most cases and barbaric imo, my mother was dying and had many hospital admissions and the busy wards and bays made that situation so much worse also.. on the maternity ward I also had to try to establish Bf with several patients and their visitors a few feet away, ugh! I understand there are budget constraints but closing curtains and giving patients a little privacy costs nothing! If you’re bad enough you might just die behind a curtain or if you are out of sight then you shouldn’t be in a crowded bay anyway. It’s an emotive subject for me, Op please ignore everything and do what is right for you, wishing you a short stay x

I hate this too. When I had DS and was on the high dependency ward immediately after a very traumatic birth I closed my (end of row window bed curtains) because I wanted some privacy to try to feed, have my catheter bag changed and my epidural removed. A young midwife who'd been helping me feed closed them when I asked her to - I was still bedbound -and the senior one came barging in, flung them open without a seconds warning and really told the more junior midwife (and me) off! Apparently it was too much hassle to stick her head in to check on individual patients in a six bed ward. Well, I didn't fancy having personal stuff like that done with other people (including other dads, no other visitors were allowed on this ward luckily) gawping at me.

I closed them again several times up on the normal post-natal ward after asking for a side room but being told there was non available. Funnily enough after a few hours they managed to find me one (although that may have been because DS was screaming constantly and disturbing all of the other well behaved babies in the place!).

expat - do you feel wired?! I just go "ping. Awake now"
The nurse was a bit when I was wandering the hospital at 3am

Yep, I just go 'ping', too. Ready to get up and leave. I once had the GA late, too, it was about 5pm before I was taken to theatre. Whatever it was they give you to reverse it, I was up all fucking night. 'You should be feeling sleepy!' Um, well, I don't. At least the one time I was caught trying to get out of bed they gave me something to sedate me. Now I don't remember that time, I had leg surgery and apparently got up and said I was going to get some water because I was thirsty.

Exactly the same. The nurse said it does happen to some people but not very common. I woke up at 4pm (5hr spinal op) and walked to the toilet about 5pm. By 6pm I had eaten two main meals and two puddings plus ice cream (catering seemed delighted someone liked the food and kept feeding me)

Oh, that's exactly how I am, Ollivander. Just up and ready to go and eat. I had an ACL reconstruction, then with my brace and drain still in, got up and walked to the loo, the kitchen, in and out of bed. I had a CPM machine and was pretty high from the pain meds, but was alert and hungry as I'd been fasting. Wasn't at all sleepy. All the other GA's I've had, same thing. Not at all sleepy.

we should ask MNHQ to create a "hospital stay" sections where current patients could chat, and might even meet each other if they chose to do so!

They kept pulling my curtains open on the postnatal ward too, I hated it. We were only in for observations due to my under active thyroid, we were both perfectly healthy so didn’t exactly need a close eye on us.

The mum opposite was not allowed to take her baby home, social services were involved. I really didn’t want to have to watch her sobbing every hour or so, and I’m sure she didn’t want me watching her either as I sat there all happy with my baby.

expat - I was HANGRY
My dad rang to ask if I had eaten. I had cheese pie, mash, gravy, peas. Jam roly poly and custard, orange juice, yoghurt, ice cream and a jam slice. Oh and a bread roll
Two cups of tea out of sight

Nurse "most patients are still vomiting"
Me "is there any more tea? I'm thirsty" 😂

Ikeep, I met one of my closest friends when I was in hospital 6yrs ago.
We'd vaguely chatted on here, I was taken in as an emergency and she asked if Id like a visitor.
Weirdly, and by total coincidence she was later diagnosed with my same chronic condition and we have the same consultant!

She met me at A&E this time and stayed until 2am, (four hours in all when she had work the next day),then visited as much as possible and brought supplies, I developed an odd craving for empire biscuits.

With my second baby, everyone had curtains shut on the maternity ward. It felt very cut off and isolated. Especially as I didn't have any visitors.

I was in for five days and every single person in the two window bays did this. I found it horrid for different reasons to you - complete lack of natural light for the whole time o was there and also in the sweltering ward the air from the communal fan had no way of reaching me (DH ended up buying me one of my own)

Ive just had 8 days of hospital food and yours looks delicious! What i couldnt cope with is at 8am having to pick your menus out for the day it made me feel having to pick three courses x 2 when i was barely up.

Also in my five bedded ward which was no longer gynae but clearly becoming care of the elderly why cant the students/assistants go round to those old ladies and brush their hairs? It really bloody upset me.

I'm really sympathising here - I've been in hospital a good number of times, really unwell, and concluded that if you've got an introvert brain (I do) then it's never going to be comfortable. The noise, the interruptions, the endless giving your history.

To anyone: if you're on the ward and there's a quiet person who isn't giving any signal that they'd like to be chatted to - please don't. It's unkind. I know you'll think you're being kind because you're showing an interest but it's horrible being in a room with three or five total strangers and feeling incredibly unwell but being talked at. I can't even explain how traumatic it is.

And to HCPs: see above. I just wanted to lie still and not talk. Having my curtains forcibly opened as if I was in the wrong meant I felt hugely uncomfortable. And I got talked at. The lack of privacy meant I was far more vulnerable than hospital usually is. I firmly believe that being forced to chat impacted on my recovery (but since you don't know what was wrong with me and Im not making it public, you can take that with a pinch of salt, I suppose).

OP I wish you the best for your recovery!!