Why don't nhs night staff want you to sleep?

[ICaughtTonsillitisFromAFriendsKid]

Sleep is a great healer.
So why is everything done to keep ward patients awake all night? (Well it feels that way)

In the day the wonderful staff are very kind, but overnight, why no whispering, at all? Not even stage whispering? I've just staggered out of bed trying not to rip out my cathetera and canula to pull the bible sheet curtain round a bit, but everyone else is left with curtains pushed back to the walls.

Everyone is so kind and happy to help, I don't even want to say anything, but I'm just exhausted, as are all of these very poorly ladies.

It seems the doctors are not too bad at whispering, I must concede.

YA not being U

I discharged myself at 5pm, having had an emergency c section at 8:17pm the night before.

Would not recommend but I could not stay there a moment longer.

Earplugs, sleephones playing white noise and eye mask. Found staff great it was other patients and machines

@ICaughtTonsillitisFromAFriendsKid you said she did a dream feed observation with you which frankly is odd. But if you say you're not nhs bashing then good for you.

You could always leave

What's said on here isn't half of what is said offline. I'd be more than happy for then to receive feedback.

Clearly

I'd probably blame it on paramedics, doctors, anyone but nurses ;)

What the actual fuck are you on about? I described my hospital at night lack of sleep experiences. I literally wrote two sentences about that time so how is that a 'massive' point about the dementia patient??

I never said the nurses had the 'audacity' to take my blood, I like my medication being properly calibrated to keep me alive, oddly. Why are you repeatedly making up vile shit about my post?

It would have been more pleasant for the dementia patient if there had their been staff available to help her, but I'm well aware there aren't the staff numbers for that.

Again, I didn't mention anything about sedating anyone, that's all some incredibly sick thing you've dreamed up and are projecting over my experiences for some reason that has nothing to do with me and my hospital experience.

As I understand it a dream feed is feeding the baby without waking it

That nurse did obs without fully waking me. There was no rocking to sleep, you made that bit up.

As you've been treated by medical professionals recently I'm sure you're aware you can't "just leave".

ICU and wards are worlds apart. On ICU, many patients have arterial line, so they have real-time blood pressure measurement without interaction between nurse and patient. Even if they don't, each bed space has its own monitoring, so the nurse can leave the blood pressure cuff attached to the patient, so they don't have to disturb them. Nursing is 1:1 or 1:2 ratio, so the nurse can cluster care.

On a ward, there may be two dynamap machines, and three cuffs (1 of each size) per machine. Every patient will need the cuff attached, then removed. The nurse may have 6-12 or more patients to look after. Once, when I was newly qualified, I was allocated 18 patients in an L-shape. When I was with patients 12-18, I had no idea what was happening to patients 1-6, and vice versa. It was a neurosurgical ward so patients 1-6 were acutely unwell, either pre or post surgical. Patients 7-12 were post-surgical but stable, and patients 13-18 were longer stay but quite confused. Impossible to do well.

We made huge efforts on ICU to reduce noise. We had an ear that lit up when people spoke, to show how noisy they were being. We tried to cluster care. I would say to the night shift doctor, 'Could you review Pamela early, because she has a sleeping pill prescribed for 10pm.' Doctors have such a high workload at night that they could lose sight of the patient's sleep and think nothing of waking them for review at midnight, 3am, etc. We always offered eye masks and ear plugs. We tried to have lights down by 10pm. But intensive care is intensive and patients don't get well between 10pm and 6am, so they do still need as much nursing care as in the day time.

We all understood you.

I was in hospital in my country of origin and one of my dd's friend's Mum's was my nurse and I was mortified. She did that sort of dream-feed thing too taking my bp - I woke up startled and she said, 'shush, I'm just taking your bp, no need to stir, go back to sleep'. I slept like a baby that night and I DO NOT SLEEP!!!
She was the loveliest kindest nurse. I genuinely think that some people are meant for nursing and some want to be doctors. It's as simple as that.

That nurse, very possibly saved my life actually.

Your ward sounds really lovely - apart from the being gravely ill to be on it.
Do you still nurse?

She basically mothered me. I think people just want nurses to mother them, with a bit of professional knowledge involved. We don't want you to prescribe meds. Just nurse.
If you want a higher paid profession - study medicine.

Yes and you can drift back off quite easily like that, it's nice. Need to leave my arm accessible whilst asleep :-)

No, sadly I had to give it all up due to caring responsibilities.

When I do sleep in hospital though, it tends to be through noise and I remember a doctor around and I did my usual 'startle' thing. Like a new-born baby where they sleep and are startled if awoken? I obviously woke up to this man beside my bed which didn't help my startle stare perhaps and he was laughing and said, you woke up just like a new-born baby. I really hope he wasn't a paediatrician lol. Now that would be worrying.

It was the soothing hush I guess. Whispered, like you'd comfort a child.

I'm so glad to hear that.
All this 'we put our patients first so won't strike' sentiment just results in poor wages and hours and low staff numbers. Which results in poor care.
You aren't nuns nowadays.

I do that - one arm out until it's low and they make you sit up because it's low 🙄

I'm pretty sure most of them are on strike half the time lol (oh God, I'm going to hell for saying that)

@endofthelinefinally having a wristband means nothing. They have to still ask patients to confirm
dates of birth and name. People take off wristbands, sometimes the wrong one is out on. Pure stupidity for a nurse or doctor to rely on a bit of paper for total confirmation of a patients ID.

Theres 900k people living in the UK with Dementia this is expected to massively rise as people are living longer. There isn't the resources to provide 1:1 care or a side room unfortunately. The only people that will be are those detained under the mental health act. They are too violent/ challenging to be cared for in general services. It's a shame as they offer much better care but beds cost a fortune.

My worst experience of London hospitals was last September. I had sepsis as it turned out but of course had been about 8 hours waiting to be seen and I don't remember much but I must have gone unconscious as I was wheeled onto a ward at about midnight and groggy. They may have given me something for pain which is why I ended up in A&E. They wanted to do a covid test having already done one in A&E and an MRSA test thing. I was like 'i'm too tired'. 5am I was woken up by same nurse and again she wanted to do these swabs. I presumed it was morning. 8am or something. When she told me what time it was I demanded to leave. She told me that I was very sick and couldn't leave and I said, well, let me fucking sleep then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so annoyed I couldn't go back to sleep and demanded to be discharged so the doc came around and said 'yeah, she's fighting fit' lol.

I ended back in fucking A&e the next day too because I was far from well.

I was in A&E for pain lol. Sometimes I don't write very well.