To thing my need for rest in hospital should trump another patients need to have 10 visitors

[Wigwambam10]

Basicly in hospital with kidney infection which is slowly getting better. I have had almost no sleep last night as the women in the next bed had 9 visitors till 11 last night and then had her telly on really loud till 2. She then called someone and was on the phone for a hour.

I asked a nurse last night to talk to her and ask her to be quiet only to be told she can’t do anything as it’s the ladies right.

This morning at 10 all the visitors turned up again and different people have come and gone all day. There have been people practically sat in my cubical and one even tried to sit on the end of my bed.
When DH came to visit me I was in tears as I am so tired and obviously feel ill so he and a word with the ward sister and most of the visitors were told they had to leave. The sister also said that the women will be told to keep the noise down tonight
Well the night staff are on and all the visitors are back. One has almost fallen through my curtain. I have talked one of the nurses who said “the visitors are not doing any harm”. I can tell it’s going to be as bad as last night.
I lost my rag about five minutes ago and shouted to the visitors to shut up and go home and give me some peace. They laughed at me.
I am on the verge of demanding they take out my drip then getting dressed and walking out. I need to sleep so badly. I am sat here with tears streaming down my face. Nurses have seen me but no one cares.

SingleDad not receiving adequate care in hospital is a real problem. Resting and sleep are important when recovering from illness.
Open visiting hours only work if all the visitors are considerate and follow the rules. Obviously that isn't going to happen nowadays as so many people think they can do whatever they want and other people around them just have to 'suck it up'.
Well done for standing up for yourself, OP.

Don't bother with singledadstill, he's just being a dick so people will argue with him. His comments are very much in the vein of "never fear ladies, a MAN has arrived to give his unwanted opinion!"

OP, I hope you got some much needed sleep. From experience, they likely won't discharge you until you've had at least 24hrs of the oral antibiotics as they'll need to check they're working with no adverse side effects.

You always need eye mask and ear plugs for NHS hospitals
Am shocked that they allowed this really

I had a kidney infection and was on turbo antibiotics so Hope OP sent home to rest today

BarbarianMum that used to happen through an arrangement with the ward sister. That's not the case here though.

I had a side room and got woken up at 1am (only came round from a huge op at 4pm) by staff snapping the light on and asking what I wanted for lunch the next day
Me "anything"
Her "you have to choose"

@Seniorcitizen1

Yeah but at The Big Betty you’re likely to breathe in pigeon droppings and die

my premise is that anyone who enters a public place won’t always get on with others around them whether it’s work, hobbies, school, shopping, etc.

My premise is that when you enter a public space you don't behave like a selfish twat and, instead, show consideration for those around you.

I'm so glad you got your own room and some peace and quiet.

I don't know what the hospital are thinking allowing visitors to a ward so late, and so many of them.

When you're ill you need rest and sleep to recover, so allowing people in until 11pm seems absolutely idiotic as most people in the ward will want to be asleep before then.

They need to change their practises, so please do complain about this after you are home and well.

Get well soon.

Until you have the sort of nursing resource that will actially spend 6 x half an hour a day spooning tea into dementia patients or ensuring people have access to suitable food (try getting a gf meal in hospital sometime) then visitors save lives.

That's not what happen in here though.

I did get some sleep and feel much better
Singledad not that is any of your buisness but I have one kidney the other was removed 5 years ago after breaking down after a bad infection so any infection in the reminding one is serious.

Also the other women in the bay also has had a kidney infection but is a few days ahead of me in getting better and since she has been talking about doing a six month trip to Australia and touring round with her visitors I am guessing nothing terminal there.

Oh and the only feeling her visitors helped with was bring in McDonald’s every day

Probably a good reason why singledad is still single.

Yeah I know ucan and you would know that if you hadn't carefully omitted the first sentence of my post. I was merely responding to a wider point about visiting hours made by a previous poster.

That's exactly what I thought namechanger.

Glad you got it sorted OP.

woman next to you cant be that poorly if she can put up with so many people and watch tv til 2 in the morning. i agree its tempting to go home but you must make sure you are well enough or you could have a relapse

I can tell you, that it is life or death to be admitted to hospital. If they think you can be treated at home, you will be. I discharged myself a couple of months ago after getting 50 minutes of sleep in 48 hours. I asked the doctor, what I could do at home and she told me (basically I should be on a drip, but could just fast for 48 hours, no fluids etc.). I discharged myself against clinical advice.
My sleep was utterly fucked up for about a month. I ended up on antidepressants.
Lack of sleep when you're ill can be an utter fuckwit. I hate hospitals here. They're crap.
Good for you OP. Glad you're recovering and got a good sleep. It will do you the world of good.

And if I hear any more crap about NHS this and that, I'll eat my shirt. It's well below par in terms of performance globally.

I've lived abroad for donkeys years, and the healthcare systems elsewhere are years and decades ahead of the great NHS.

If a hospital can't even provide the most basic recovery tool i.e. sleep, then that says a heck of a lot about it.

PALS it is woman! I'm glad you didn't suffer (and SUFFER IT IS) in silence. I hope you get stronger and stronger and don't hold back when it comes to complaining.

What you have described is fucking ridiculous.

I am one who loves having visitors. But the most that are ever allowed in is two where I used to live (Canada). Children are only allowed in for short periods, unless you're in a private room. But when you're ill, the routine of hospitals, means you can't have visitors there all the time. When my ex was visiting, we whispered. I just sort of discussed my treatment etc. I could wait until I was home to discuss major plans. Just his presence was enough.

I’m sorry op, maybe the nurses are intimidated if their quite young but you could try and call PALS or even security to get them thrown out.

Sometimes you just have to hold your tongue and count your blessings.

Yes, you could practice doing that now before showing yourself up any further.

Oh, god I hate this about hospitals.

Why the hell they don’t recognise rest as important. I have come out if Hospital nearly mad with tiredness and lack of sleep due to noise. I discharged myself after birth complications after 4 nights, despite blood pressure issues (mine, not babes) because I couldn’t go another night without sleep.

Rest and sleep are a fundamental part of healing.

I don't understand the argument that substandard practice should be allowed to drift, with quieter more stoical patients "sucking it up" because they are getting cared for by the sainted NHS! Bonkers.

Also, I've been on a ward (well, 2 of us in a room) with a woman from a family that a lot of people might describe as na'er-do-wells. Even her family, had the manners and gumption to be civil and quiet when visiting. This was not here though. Because the nurses would have them out in a heartbeat!

I can't believe the nurse said 'they're doing no harm' outside of visiting hours! They were doing harm. They were disturbing you and inhibiting your blooming recovery! I get so annoyed about hospitals lol. Can you tell? But when you've seen how things operate in other countries, you can't but feel depressed at our shit system.

I spent quite a bit of time in hospital decades ago. Of course you are disturbed by necessary activities by staff and unwell patients. But to extrapolate that required tolerance to multiple, inconsiderate guests clogging up wards is baffling to me.

Waxmyballs.
Love your response haha! Post of the thread!

@SingleDadStill when my DM was in hospital with terminal cancer, her family and friends still managed to stick religiously to the visiting times (even though I knew the ward staff wasn't hugely strict with them) in fact, we had a total of those going between 2pm-4pm and 6pm-8pm so everyone could take there turn, no more than 3 adults at a time.

The reason we stuck to the visiting rules, is because we expected other to also stick to them to allow the patients the rest the needed while in hospital.

It's basic human decency and consideration for others!

You don't need to count your blessings and shut up at all.

One of the huge failures of the NHS in my opinion compared with say insurance style systems on the continent is that there is almost no provision for after-care and convalescence to allow the body to heal itself after any major event. I have a relative in one country who had heart surgery and was put in what was like a spa for a month, good food, a short walk every day, fresh air and lots and lots of rest. Also monitored constantly to check kidneys/infections etc Here in the UK you are discharged after a few days to struggle at home, and to go to the GP. I know so many cases, so many now, where patients have ended up in a revolving door situation as they are not kept in a quiet well-looked after environment (including with good sleep) and then end up with infections, even severe-life threatening symptoms and have to go back in. If the OP is discharged prematurely and not properly monitored- chances are her infection will reoccur and she'll be back in.

It's inefficiency at its finest, and people in other well-off European countries would be horrified at what people are expected to put up with in the UK which is contrary to the basics of healthcare- dirty wards, visitors tramping through (visitors in my dad's facility had to wear shoe covers etc), no day and night, noise, lights on all the time. If you have just had brain surgery- then the light and noise is agonizing and I know at least one person who had had PTSD through lack of care after being discharged too soon and she is now being treated on the NHS costing more than if she had had considerate quiet nursing care for an extra week or even at home.

After-care or anything other than an emergency is very poorly treated in the UK unless you can pay private.