Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that people should make an effort to keep noise down in a hospital ward

97 replies

Booboostwo · 12/07/2018 20:18

I am not having the best of time as I am in hospital again with DD so perhaps I am being grumpy, so perfectly happy to be told I am BU.

We are in a small ward, just four beds but as it is a children’s hospital understandably every child has a parent stay with them as well. Patients are at different times in their recovery, some just out of operations, some about to be discharged so understandably some children are livelier than others but am I BU to think that everyone should make more of an effort to be a bit more considerate with noise?

The child in the bed next to us had five adults and two toddlers visiting all afternoon. The toddlers took it in turn to scream, which is what toddlers do, but why keep them in hospital for so long when there are so many adults available to take them home? This child was also discharged by the end of the afternoon so I don’t even understand why so many people needed to visit in hospital

The other bed has a child who is watching TV and playing games on full volume and I mean really, really loud. Why not use earphones or lower the volume of at least the games? The visitors for that bed are having shouting conversations to be heard over the TV. The noise was so loud my DD could not hear me trying to read a book to her sitting right by her bed.

Am I BU to think people should be more considerate of other in a small space where there are some really sick children?

OP posts:
RaspberryPi1 · 01/08/2018 23:45

I'm not sure when the last time you went to hospital. But things happen at ALL hours.

It isn't great. I appreciate that. But whining about conditions at a free at contact service is short sighted at the least. no one wants to be in hospital. Let's be a bit compassionate.

Original poster
Booboostwo · 01/08/2018 23:49

This brand new hospital is not very well thought out in terms of noise. The nurses station is in the corridor but the ward opens straight into the corridor with no doors so we hear everything and nurses have to, understandably talk all through the night. The door bell rings both in the corridor and on portable alarms all nurse said carry, and keeps ringing through the night. The ward has enough space to have had individual cubicles but was designed communally on purpose so kids could play together - I haven’t seen a single kid talk to another one much less play with them.

OP posts:
ShapelyBingoWing · 01/08/2018 23:50

I'm not sure when the last time you went to hospital.

Hmm I'm a student paeds nurse. I spend an awful lot of time in children's wards and do a good number of night shifts. Sleep is extremely important to a child's recovery. 'Free at the point of use' isn't a get out of jail free card that excuses poor care. And refusing to do what you can to moderate night time noise levels is poor care.

Original poster
Booboostwo · 01/08/2018 23:53

This is really ironic but we are paying for the care privately as we are foreigners and not entitled to NHS care. Does that mean she has to get off the phone now? And I do know what she is going through as she is saying it loudly out the phone. She is describing the view out of the window and she concerned the car park is not secure enough for her car.

OP posts:
Original poster
Booboostwo · 02/08/2018 00:00

And by the way I am NOT complaining about children crying, morphine pumps beeping, nurses doing obs, etc. I am complaining about someone who is not a patient making three phone calls over 45 minutes until well past the bedtime of the patients on the ward.

OP posts:
RaspberryPi1 · 02/08/2018 00:02

I've just finished a shift. Yeah it's tough.
There are no excuses here. But we are trying to offer a service to all.

No one wants to be in hospital. And the system we have is free at point of contact. Hence we should treat all people with respect.

We have no idea what the OP's 'hospital neighbours' are going through, so why all the hate? We don't know the diagnosis their child is under.

All in all. The OP's feelings do not automatically trump others

LighthouseSouth · 02/08/2018 00:03

@RaspberryPi1

They were free 30, 40 years ago and people didn't make this kind of racket.

RaspberryPi1 · 02/08/2018 00:05

@lighthousesouth
A lot of things were wrong 30 or 40 years ago... So I'm not sure what your comment add to the thread.

Being in hospital is shit.different people cope with this in different ways.
Where is the compassion.

LighthouseSouth · 02/08/2018 00:07

And what happened to limits on visitor numbers? Though I do note that another nurse upthread said she wouldn't allow those numbers.

Guiltypleasures001 · 02/08/2018 00:10

I dear your pain op

When my ds was having his tonsils out, they gave him a suppository for the pain
But it also caused shall we say a loosening of bowels quite often.

I had to put all his clothes in the washing machine and tumble dryer they had on the ward. When I checked back on the dryer, someone had stolen all his clothes, and left their kids holed and torn stuff in there.

The nurse said happened all the time

ShapelyBingoWing · 02/08/2018 00:11

RaspberryPi1, you cannot honestly be trying to insinuate that this parent's phone call should be considered equally important as the sleep of the 4 patients in the bay? Hmm That's not compassion I'm afraid, it's being unnecessarily ineffectual. The OP has been very clear that the contents of the call were hardly pressing. And again, being free at the point of use doesn't mean people can behave as they please and the staff have to allow it.

LighthouseSouth · 02/08/2018 00:12

@RaspberryPi1

Where is your compassion? It's awful being a patient in hospital with all that noise around you. perhaps you are a good person to ask, why don't hospitals want to make rules about mobile phones and noise and visitor numbers any more?

I have nearly died myself, watched my mum come back from the brink and I didn't, at any point, feel the need to make a racket!

"you don't know what people are going through" so they're allowed to talk loudly about the car park?!

ShapelyBingoWing · 02/08/2018 00:14

And the system we have is free at point of contact. Hence we should treat all people with respect.

The default position of health care workers should be respectful regardless of how much it's costing. And it isn't disrespectful to ask this parent to have her phone calls elsewhere during night time hours because the patients are trying to sleep.

reallybadidea · 02/08/2018 00:40

I've just finished a shift. Yeah it's tough.
There are no excuses here. But we are trying to offer a service to all.

How strange, I thought you were a teacher.

downinthejunglee · 02/08/2018 11:50

@RaspberryPi1
I also thought you were a teacherHmm

barleyfive · 02/08/2018 11:58

YANBU. As you said, if it was the patient making a noise for any reason than that is different from noisy visitors. Wishing your DD a speedy recovery, and hope that the rest of the time is calmer.

SnuggyBuggy · 02/08/2018 12:07

I remember when I worked in paeds outpatients and those unessarily large family groups who insisted on treating it like a family excursion were a real nuisance both in outpatients and the ward.

And yes talking rubbish on a mobile when people are trying to sleep is very rude.

fairgame84 · 02/08/2018 12:12

YANBU
DS13 had an op at Sheffield Children's hospital in March and the first night was horrendous. There was a baby in our bay who cried constantly all night. DS then ended up swearing and crying because he has autism and he was post surgery and just needed quiet and sleep.
It wasn't the baby's fault, he was clearly in agony and his poor mum was at her wits end. The next day they finally gave the baby some pain relief and the 2nd night was much better.
We were meant to be in 4 nights but they let us go home after 2 as I'm a qualified paeds nurse and we live 5 minutes away from our local hospital if anything went wrong. DS recovered much better at home where he could sleep.

FrancisCrawford · 02/08/2018 12:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FrancisCrawford · 02/08/2018 12:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

crazycatgal · 02/08/2018 12:32

@RaspberryPi1 Are you a teacher or a nurse? 🤔

Original poster
Booboostwo · 02/08/2018 12:34

We’re also in Sheffield Fairgame. Lovely staff, very knowledgeable and caring but no chance of getting any sleep. I don’t know how people cope with long term hospitalisations.

OP posts:
IceBearRocks · 02/08/2018 12:34

We've just done 3 days on a children's Ward Again.... Different hospital to our normal one. 3 bed Ward eldest child waiting for an op facetimed everyone she knew until 11pm when her parents came back with food.
DS has medication to sleep and obviously it didn't work do he spent the entire night screaming (he's severely disabled) then finally got him off...SATS monitor of a child in next bed went off for at least 5 minutes...(child was on oxygen earlier) no nurse came ...I had to ask for it to be turned off..by then DS was awake again screaming !! No one hot any sleep and I felt guilty and angry!!!
I feel every single inch of your pain....after that they put us in a room alone !!!!

ISeeTheRainIsBack · 02/08/2018 12:36

Yanbu.

Was on a train recently and a loud ( and proud of it!) man was told to button it by a guard/ driver going off duty. Refreshing.

Do we need a massive civility campaign?

Just back from Japan where they have signs and give announcements on public transport on expected levels of behaviour.

ISeeTheRainIsBack · 02/08/2018 12:37

In a hospital it's unacceptable.

Swipe left for the next trending thread