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

Should add all of us closed them when needed (feeding or medical procedures) but I and others "wardside" of the bay opened them after

why cant the students/assistants go round to those old ladies and brush their hairs?

That makes me sad. I'm studying paeds nursing and when a kid wants their hair doing, our students are the first to crack out the bobbles it's one job I'll really miss getting the time to do once qualified.

That said, if there's no parent accompanying a child, we normally include pulling their brush through their hair as part of getting them dressed/clean for the day. If there's one with them anyway. There often isn't.

Hospital lunch.

Hospital dinner.

I like them open because I'm nosey! I'd be your nightmare ward neighbour OP!

And no word of a lie they were keeping note if all the hospital food I was eating because I have a low, though within healthy range, BMI.
Some wards are better than others for food, when I was in Cystic Fibrosis ward a couple of years back they'd offer you anything they possibly could.

I scoff hugely after GA's, too, Ollivander, as have been fasting, and never vomit. 'Most patients . . . ' 'I've already told you I'm not most patients, I wake right up and I'm ready to eat and drink.' I know now to bring my own food in. I've never been fed well in hospitals. Oh, and the ones where you have to go get your food, doesn't work really well when you still can't feel your legs from the epidural.

In the US a lot of surgeries are day surgeries, with a community nurse coming to visit you at home to administer meds, look after your line, pull out your drain. I liked it because then I could eat and drink at will, and be in my own bathroom.

Can't abide nosey people so wards are very unpleasant. I never sleep more than a bit at a time in them even with earplugs and noise-cancelling headphones because I have PTSD.

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

So how much extra in taxes are you willing to pay, in order for everyone to have private rooms? It IS the NHS, meaning budgets are tight. We HAVE to be able to see patients. That is fact. We do not have 50 private rooms in a ward. That is fact. I'm not sure what magic wand you want us to wave to make this change.

As I said, she can request a window bed so that her curtains don't impair the view of other potentially very unwell patients. But even then her nurse will have to be popping her head in the curtains very regularly to check she's okay.

I feel for that constipated woman, it's not something I would be able to laugh off if it were me or a family member.

And yet she and all of the rest of us did laugh. There was a sense of camaraderie and cheering when the 'job' was completed. It wasn't a normal situation. That's what I meant about giving up notions of dignity and privacy—your perspective changes when you are seriously ill.

'That's what I meant about giving up notions of dignity and privacy—your perspective changes when you are seriously ill.'

It might for some people, but it's erroneous to assume it does for all or that it should.

When staffing on a surgical ward I had 2 bays of 6 beds and 4 single rooms to look after. So the comments about being visible to staff are ludicrous. If someone took a turn for the worse it would be lucky for me to be within eyesight.

It’s the 21st century. We should have single rooms for patients. We should also have adequate staffing levels to give good,personalised healthcare.

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..

This is 100% unacceptable, you should absolutely complain and demand this be followed up. The curtains purpose is for privacy, nobody should be sweeping in uninvited or opening curtains without conversing with you first. This is unacceptable practice, but different to the OP comment I think about KEEPING the curtains shut.

PieandPumpkins
It can be done as I've said, QEUH in Glasgow do it.

Reading the comment from someone about liking the curtains open because she's nosey - I'm genuinely in tears remembering what it was like to be really ill and people asking me questions about myself or commenting about me (that was old ladies, they have lost the filter that keeps them from saying things out loud).

Hospital is brutal.

@IHaveBrilloHair

QEUH was built in 2015 and cost £842 MILLION. It is one of the largest acute hospitals in the UK. That's wonderful, I'm very happy for Glasgow. If you imagine this can be reflected in every other hospital throughout the UK though you're living in la-la land.

So how much extra in taxes are you willing to pay, in order for everyone to have private rooms?

before we immediately jump on raising the tax, shall we have a look at how things work in other countries, change the way things are managed, and clarify how much the lack of care end up costing the NHS?

You want an example? The new computer system from a few years back that ended up costing a fortune (no figure in my head), I directly saw some aspects of it where money was wasted, people - IT contractors - were taking the piss, being paid handsomely for zero results. That money could have, should have, been managed a lot better, it was just a free for all, and many companies made quite a few bucks out of it mine included

Simply changing the mindset of people would be a start, and working towards improving patient care, not expect them to lose all dignity and humanity from the minute they step in a hospital.

I would be mortified if my bowel movements were discussed in public, I don't think someone like my grand-mother would have survived- a very private and polite lady, who wouldn't even talk about "toilets" in public or even blow a nose in public.

It's all well and good to pretend you can close your curtains when you need privacy, but when you are bed-bound, unable to move, it's dangerous at bed to expect patients to get up to close the damn things! Most people would be reluctant to ring for the nurse every time they want to close their curtains, talk about wasting their time. If you are well enough to close your curtains, you must be well enough not to use a bed pan!

That's what I meant about giving up notions of dignity and privacy—your perspective changes when you are seriously ill.

I've been seriously ill and the loss of dignity and privacy was one of the most traumatic things about it. The importance of helping patients to maintain their dignity is drummed into HCPs these days, and rightly so.

Oh, and just because the patient in your example was laughing along, that doesn't mean she wasn't embarrassed or humiliated. She may have been trying to make light of the situation, you just don't know.

That's what your call bell is for@Ikeepaforkinmypurse That's why the HCA's/nurses are there.

i think the qe in birmingham may hvae 100% single rooms so it can be done

That's what your call bell is for@Ikeepaforkinmypurse That's why the HCA's/nurses are there.

you are telling me that the nurses are happy , and available, to close the curtains every 30minutes or less, when you need the toilets, to change a pad (in the worst times I need to change mine more often that that)? Have you even seen an NHS ward, and heard about patients who don't even get food or simply water and don't see any staff for hours because they are too busy?

I would be embarrassed to disturb the staff too much and wary of not be taken seriously. Unfortunately, in hospital and unwell, you don't feel that confident, but i do bear that in mind. If I am ever confronted with an unpleasant curtain-opener, I shall not hesitate to ring the bell every 15minutes.

It shouldn't have to come to that. I don't want people looking at me when I am asleep either!

Southmead in Bristol is 100% single rooms too.

people should dread being in hospitals because it means being unwell, and no one wants that.

They should not dread it because they are treated like animals and expected to lose their dignity.

It's a common joke, but we are treating prisoners better than patients.

I work in the NHS, how about you? Yes I'm fully aware of the demands on the NHS, better than most probably. It is hard, that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it, yes every 30 minutes if necessary.

I like them open because I'm nosey! I'd be your nightmare ward neighbour OP!

Surely even if you are nosey, hospital is the one place you should reign it in. What interests you about seeing and hearing other sick people?

Oh of course they'll be happy to rush to close the curtains if you press the call button.
Ahhhhaaaaha, what rot, in my experience you'd get shouted at.