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.

..oh this reminds me of a similar experience, some years ago when this type of behaviour was thankfully unusual...

Was on a train going to a job interview so had splurged on 1st class to get some peace and quiet for preparation.

Unfortunately as I try to read my notes, a couple of loud wannabe 'bruvs' and girlfriend board and enter the quiet carriage, sitting on the row in front of me.

One of them has a particularly big gob, and is keen to tell his mate and girlfriend how big he is, that he is going to buy some drugs etc. (Calpol perhaps?) The carriage, of mostly businessmen, are suitably held captive enthralled by his grandiose gangsta comments.

Then he switches some music on... It is the most god-awful shit I have ever heard in my life, of course at loud volume. After a moment, his girlfriend hesitantly asks if he could 'er, turn it down a bit', clearly having better musical taste than him. He earnestly replies, 'I can't, my music is my life, man'. Glancing around I see several people trying to stifle guffaws at this, and think, well you haven't really got much to live for have you.

The conversation turns to the fact that they are in the wrong carriage, not having bought 1st class tickets, and what they will do if an inspector gets on. Both boys assure the world at large that they will punch any inspector that dares to tell them off.

Well with the most beautiful timing, 2 stops later the doors open and a large, no-nonsense female Valkyrie of an inspector boards the train. I sense a rapid deflation of egos in the row in front, and the radio is suddenly turned off. I am impressed, this woman has commanding presence and serious authority.

Inspector Brynhilda booms, 'ANYONE on this carriage with the wrong ticket, will leave NOW or there. will. be. trouble'. At this, big gob and his cronies leap up and take the scuttle of shame down the aisle like scared little mice, trying to avoid making eye-contact with anyone on the carriage.. along with his little Fisher Price radio. Bless. Bye. bye.

Blissful peace for the rest of the journey.

We need matrons like this in hospitals again.

Admitted for cancer surgery this week. Had the wall mounted TV absolutely blaring for a dead and confused older lady, and then 2 other women playing music and videos on their phones without headphones. It was so awful and overwhelming I cried. I was so relieved when one by one they were taken elsewhere. I then turned off the TV and may have hidden the remote....

I know you meant a deaf lady , but your typo did make me laugh !
( mind you , reading the NHs horror stories on here and in the daily mail this weekend , she might well have
been !!)

I’m probably being very naive here, but don’t nurses and other staff have any authority over what patients and their visitors do and how they behave while in the wards? Aren’t there rules about what’s acceptable? That can be enforced, and, visitors at least, threatened with expulsion if they break the rules?

@rickyrickygrimes yes they absolutely have authority. There are policies and procedures - they can enforce visiting hours and they are SUPPOSED to ensure a therapeutic environment. If visitors don’t comply then ultimately they can be escorted off via hospital security or police if necessary. Obviously you can’t evict a patient but you can turn off tv etc. It’s part of the job but one a lot of nurses are ill equipped to handle due to lack of training, support or just plain unwillingness to put themselves at risk of abuse.

I think, unfortunately, the only way to get the nurses to deal is to be the bigger pain in the arse. If your wife can get up maybe she could go over and take the speakers and turn them off...? Sleep deprivation is torture.

Agree, sometimes you have to be the disruptive one.

I was in SO MUCH pain in hospital, I felt like my insides were melting, I was screaming in pain and the HCA refused to get a nurse because 'Its meant to hurt.' So I flipped my table over with a full water jug on it 'by accident' as I thrashed around in pain. That got the attention of the nurse who realised there was an issue with the line into my stomach.

@Hateam how is your wife now? I hope she is better and things got better for her

Several ups and downs and a long recovery ahead.

Today she has been the best she has been for many weeks.

She is now on a quiet ward - thank god!

@Applescruffle

Good to hear OP 💤

Speak to the staff. Thats not acceptable. Headphones need to be worn

Glad to hear she's doing ok OP ❤

When I had just given birth the woman in the bed next to mine decided to loudly FaceTime her boyfriend at 1am to have an argument about the fact that she was "stuck here with this kid" while he got to go home and sleep.

On some level I sympathised. On all over levels I wanted to end her.