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.

I must once again reiterate that I have not interfered. I absolutely am letting the staff do their job.

Paracetamol is a general pain relief with good efficacy and a low side effect and risk profile which can be given in a variety of circumstances for pain including leg pain from a suspected DVT, no it won't treat a DVT. But since OP isn't privy to her fellow patients medical details, OP or anyone else on here has no way of knowing what other medication the patient is already on/ about to be started on. Paracetamol can also presuambly be adminstered promptly by the nurses either via a PGD or because it is already written up on her drugs chart, if the patient has already had any in the last 4 hours. Diagnosis and other treatment for a suspected DVT might take a while longer.

missed out but not if the patient has already had any

Yanbu. Even on the children's surgery ward I found they were so loud at night. Having full on conversations about home life and laughing.

Well, I don't know.

Nope. Paracetamol should not be the first response to someone with cramps.

Clearly theres no humanity left in you no matter what anyone says your in complete denial for your own pleasure. Id say say you get your kicks from criticising others.

I'm suffering from terrible night cramping but mine is due to dehydration.

I have a friend who worked for the BBC he did a program about hospitals and couldn't believe the noise levels during the night. Had great difficulty with the volume of voices, doors, call buttons. The doctor just shrugged and commented that patients don't sleep. Yes certain noises are unavoidable but it should be kept to a minimum. You get woken every two hours for tests, unavoidable but two hours is two hours sleep. Nurses shouting, laughing, banging, is avoidable.

Because they dont have them probably.

Most wards wouldn't have access to anything like that. Topical analgesics would have to be a special pharmacy order unless the patient already had it prescribed and had it with them, even then, it would have to be a documented prescription for nurses to be able to apply it. A store-bought one such as ibuprofen gel, nurses shouldn't apply as only prescribed medications can be given, even down to paracetamol, it has to be charted. We also advise patients not to use their own medications whilst in hospital as we don't know what they are taking alongside what we are giving and could result in potential issues.

Heat and ice packs again arent something on wards. Theyre only option would have been what ever pain relief was prescribed, and to inform a dr, but a dr wouldn't come to a ward for leg cramps with no other symptoms, it would be mentioned during the patient's daily review and looked at along with blood results etc.

People are being harsh. I work in a hospital so I understand what it's like working nights, but it is still hellish as a patient and there is more we can do to make things better.

Thank you Cheeriyo, very sensible.

You're a star 💛

@maiafawnly totally agree with you. There's no equipment to give a patient with a leg cramp.
We have heat packs and ice packs in the department I work in but that's with kids who have cancer and they were probably donated. Also there's no Microwaves on most wards.

From a work point of view I don't have time to rub patients because I've got 8 other patients On a good day who all need iv chemo or iv meds and they need to be observed at 15 min intervals for an hour, or need a bolus of chemo/ medication which can't be given without me literally standing there and pushing it into a cannula over a certain period.

We can give paracetamol but anything else needs a dr to come up and prescribe something and they're not coming to a ward for cramp bit different to you because you're not a child but drs are covering the entire medical unit over night and I would get short shrift if I called for that on a bank shift on an adult ward.

I'd give paracetamol if it was prescribed and then if it didn't go i would obviously escalate it.

However to even think about sitting and rubbing a patient when ive got so much else to do is laughable

However to even think about sitting and rubbing a patient when ive got so much else to do is laughable

^ If you genuinely feel this way please tell your Trust's freedom to speak up guardian you are so short staffed the idea of giving hands on care to a patient in pain is laughable. You are so busy and burnt out you have lost all perspective. I would absolutely hate to work with you.

@Isthisexpected do you have special rubbing patient time on your ward then? Is it protected like meal times?

Cheers for saying I'm shit at my job though! I'm great at my job. I just don't rub patients

I'd love to see a ward currently that isn't short staffed. Giving basic care is tricky at the moment let alone rubs. Should it be this way? Nope. I'd be flabbergasted though if you actually currently work in an NHS hospital. Also what would a freedom to speak guardian be able to do about it? There are better channels for short staffing- but that'd be just like saying as the titanic sinks ah we need more life jackets; cue numerous replies of yes no shit.

@Isthisexpected has a HCA i would try provide this kind of care to patients, id have the time to sit with them, put cream on where they required - though often later in the day not when they necessarily requested it, and spend as much time as possible with the patient to ensure their needs are met. As a nurse? absolutely not possible on any of the wards I have been to.

maiafawnly

Thanks for your comments. It was the incredulity of the PP and "laughable" I was so disappointed in...rather than I'd ask a colleague to help the patient etc.

Great to see what you would do though!

@Isthisexpected The issue still arises with lack of staff though, when I was a hca on a particular ward we would have 4 on shift and 7 patients each, now, its usually 2, occasionally 3, which is reducing patient care massively. HCA's are also leaving the role in droves as they are earning next to nothing and having responsibilities increased. HCA's have so much patient contact, and often so much knowledge, they are a vital part of the team, but if they arent being paid decently, where is the motivation to stay?

@Isthisexpected i also think @fannyfan was speaking as a nurse, in which case I fully agree with the comment, as a nurse, its physically impossible to provide that level of care regardless of how much you would like to spend that time with a patient, you just cant. I don't think makes someone bad at their job, far from it, just realistic about what they can achieve, and another reason why HCA's are such a valuable part of the team.

I was vomiting rather alot, the nurse brought me water as I asked but I was nil by mouth so had to swill and spit. The nurse gave me an anti nausea injection but unfortunately I had a reaction to it. The nurse held my hand and stayed with me all be it only five minutes but that time was really appreciated. It's sad that nurses dont have time to nurse anymore. When your Ill you sometimes need a hand to hold