Since when did playing music through speakers be OK on a hospital ward?

[Hateam]

I'm at my wife's bedside on a neurology ward and twice now other patients have just put the speaker on their phone and played music.

The ward staff seem OK with this.

Its not ok. It's extremely self entitled and anti social. Ask them to put headphones in?

It's the same in buses, trains and even aeroplanes...

Not acceptable. Just tell the staff.

My polite request was met with scorn.

Speak to the staff. There’s no need to do that; really self absorbed and entitled. Or just say would you mind putting ear phones in as my wife needs to rest?

True.

But a hospital ward is surely different?

That would drive me nuts!! The hospital needs to have a ban on this. Its bad enough being ill without having someone else's music rammed in your ears.

I had this in the middle of the night on an induction ward whilst having labour pains. Asked for it to be turned down/off but the staff don’t like confrontation

I stunned that anybody can be this selfish or stupid or both.

Because in my experience the staff are just as bad. I'm a HCP and my breaks in the staff room are regularly disturbed by other staff members playing music, watching videos, making calls on speaker phone - often all at the same time!

My DD was in hospital a while ago. We had others nearby using their phone on speaker phone so we heard both sides of all conversations and their child watch TV/films with no headsets.

There were several ill children on the ward who needed rest. Staff were too busy and didn't say anything. I believe many think staff don't get involved now for fear of arguments which they don't have time for.

I think that's the problem.

In Japan it’s wonderful! It’s socially unacceptable to play loud music on trains etc

I'm pretty sure most of the staff are not okay with it. However, the staff have enough to be doing without teaching patients common courtesy.

You wouldn't believe how often you ask patients to be considerate of the other patients on the ward and either use headphones or take their calls to the day room or not do rowdy video calls with a million people on the middle of the night, to be met with a rude and negative response, and sometimes even a complaint made about you.

The sensory overload of trying to monitor a bay of sick patients, the lights, alarms, bells, listening to breathing, listening for sounds of pain, trying to have quiet conversations, other HCPs bellowing for the keys, is already overwhelming. Someone's shit quality tinny music playing through their phone on top is almost intolerable, but there isn't anything the ward staff can actually do.

I hope your wife gets better soon.

I’d escalate until either the racket was turned off or your wife was moved to a private side ward.

The ignorance of people fails to surprise me any more.

Because people are fucking self entitled. I was on a ward last year where one woman every day had her family turn up so they could all watch emmerdale together, and the raging racist woman next to her had her scummy son play clips from a NSFW and really un PC “comedy” show he had attended despite the fact there were little kids about.
but both of these women took huge offence at the woman with paranoid schizophrenia making any sort of noise when they wanted to go to sleep.

I understand why people don’t want confrontation- it’s so awkward just laying facing complete strangers when you are sick.

I would take it further; PALS, ward manager. Find out the hospital’s complaints procedure. It’s disgusting, selfish, entitled behaviour. I hope your wife’s stay isn’t too long and she recovers quickly.

I took some board games in yesterday. I took a small piece of cloth in to roll the dice on so the noise on the wooden trolley wouldn't annoy others.

My wife watches Emmerdale on a tablet and a bought headphones for her.

I was visiting DH in the major trauma ward. Half the other patients were criminals who'd been stabbed. Constant phonecalls on speaker, from dawn til midnight, constant videos playing at full volume. Shouting, screaming, swearing, Dozens of insalubrious noisy visitors, literally not a second of silence. The nurses did not give a shit. DH became the hero of the ward by handing out earplugs. How they expect people to recover in this situation is a mystery.

I was woken up in the middle of the night, about 3am, by what sounded like a talk show on a radio when I was in hospital last year.

I asked a nurse who came in to do obs, is there a radio on, can it be quieter, it's keeping me awake - she just said I think that's 'Sandra' she's watching a film (?!) pointed at a woman on the other side of the bay using her phone, no headphones, and walked off.

Her manner made it very clear she thought I was being unreasonable to even mention it. I was completely baffled that it was apparently considered ok.

I have cancer and have spent quite a bit of time in hospital over the past nine months and unfortunately this is the norm. I had to buy noise cancelling headphones for my own sanity.

Good God this is actually a thing then!

This happens a lot then! I had no idea! I knew about trains and buses but a hospital ward!?!

I'd image the ward staff have just had to accept it as they probably get verbal abuse if they make a polite request.

He'll is other people.

I sat with my dying friend on a general ward - the noise was dreadful. The staff came in and put the TV on in the morning and it stayed on for most of the day. There was no consideration at all for her. They put curtains round her bed, and despite requests to move her, it was ignored. It went quieter about 1am. However another person I know discharged himself from the same hospital as the lights and TV were on all night. There's no point in complaining - you only add to the distress because no one gives a fuck

Some people have voted AIBU.

Can I ask why?

Some people seem to require their own personal soundtrack - it’s incredibly selfish. I hope your wife is better soon.