Mixed sex wards?

[Ward3567]

Hi!

just wondered what other people would have felt about this because honestly I’m not sure if my reaction is ridiculous or not!

I was recently unwell and in hospital and on a ward for several days. I have really limited experience with hospitals but I guess I had assumed everyone on the ward would be female but it was mixed. I was the youngest (early 20s) and everyone was so, so nice so it was fine, but I sort of felt a bit nervous about being on a ward with men- I know that’s completely daft because it’s a hospital and nothing happened and they were all nice but I was really nervous about it. There was around 6 of us (2 females and 4 males) and everyone was ranging in age from 40-70 so I was the youngest and honestly they couldn’t have been nicer to me so I feel so awful for feeling nervous and uneasy, but I just sort of spent the entire time on my nerves. I guess it was probably worsened by being unwell and feeling a bit vulnerable which probably made it all seem worse than it actually was, but I just felt so uneasy about it. During the night there were no staff within eyeshot or earshot because our ward was at the other end of the corridor and I just remember being up at 4am and feeling totally alone and frightened to be around 4 males. Add into the equation the fact our ward toilet didn’t have a working lock on it which probably made it the whole thing feel more stressful than it was!

so yeah, just wondered would this have made anyone else nervous or was I being dramatic/feeling a bit vulnerable because I was unwell?

All the wards I’ve encountered, and there’s been many, they have always been mixed sex wards but single sex bays (with the exception of ED/ITU/HDU).

Im really really surprised that mixed sex bays exist in this day and age, at my current hospital even in full escalation protocol mixing sexes in bays would never be considered.

A vulnerable person shouldn’t be put in a position to find out whether they’ll be the one today to find that SMALT.

the OP is right to feel vulnerable and unprotected. Sexual assault does happen in hospital and it makes no sense to have a toilet without a lock - hospital toilets have security locks that can be opened from the outside if necessary (emergency etc).

how dare you shame the OP with your NAMALT shit

That's horrific, I'm so sorry. It's unbelievable they have mixed sex psychiatric wards.

Omg here comes more NAMALT

Thank you @Carriemac and @RawBloomers

I'm surprised so many men would be perving on an unwell woman in hospital when unwell themselves. Not all men are predators or perverts. Not saying this doesn't happen. Maybe I've been lucky.

Many years ago the late Frank Dobson MP was Health Minister and he vowed to stop mixed sex wards - his successors are still to get round to it.

And isn’t it marvellous you’ve had no reason to be get yourself worked up. the ones who do can just go fuck themselves, eh?

Not everyone in hospital is so ill that they can't get up out of bed. Some are in hospital medically fit but awaiting guardianship eg.

Dementia patients can become sexually inappropriate towards staff and other patients.

Mixed sex wards should not be a thing.

Is this sarcasm? What’s your point?

It wouldn’t bother me, unless it was maternity / gynae / anything else where knickers aren’t allowed. (Once stuck on a day ward for a kidney biopsy and was forbidden underwear for the rest of the afternoon).

I’m due for surgery in a few weeks and haven’t given it a second thought.

Mixed sex wards are fine, but the bays and toilets should be single sex (NOT gender). I'd feel very vulnerable the other side of a filmsy curtain, in a state of undress, to a male I didn't know. I will make no apology for that however nice that male MIGHT be.

I agree OP. I had an overnight stay a couple of months ago and there was basically a long room with mixed sex just beds surrounded by curtains. There was a desk on the other side of the long room but when I went past twice to the loo it wasn't manned. The loo was more concerning though as it had no lock! It was opposite a man's bed and he was watching everyone going in and out, clearly knowing there was no lock and people had to try to hold the door closed in there.

Stank because it was mixed and was wet underfoot. Really grim and uncomfortable experience all told

This is so important that it bears repeating.

The Tories may ‘know what a woman is’ but the stories on this thread and many, many similar ones make it clear that they do not care. Mixed bays with no way to secure the bathroom door?

And perhaps you will have seen the news item yesterday about the hospital in Stockport where parts of the ceiling collapsed, resulting in the need to evacuate a critical care unit and a diagnostic unit.

This is Third World stuff.

Even if you could not secure the bathroom door? Which appears to be a distinct possibility

Tbh that's totally grim regardless of men being there or not. That's my worst nightmare tbh!

And I’ve camped out in mixed groups of friends, etc as I imagine many on the thread have. There is nothing remarkable about anything you or I are writing. I still don’t want to share a bathroom without a lock with strangers and make no apology for the fact that yes, the worst case for this scenario is sexually mature males.

I agree!

That's really stressful and wouldn't have helped your recovery

I was on a mixed ward for bladder cancer op. The nearest toilet to my bed was always occupied by an old man who sat there all day with his legs open and the door unlocked, so when you opened it you got an eyeful.

Also this year I was on a mixed ward and a man kept taking all his clothes off and running around the ward. The nurses were very cross with him and herded him back to bed. However, he kept on doing it!

You are right, of course. Until you wake up in a hospital bed next to one of the very very few men who just happens to be a predator….

Most of the time it’s fine to cross the road without looking both ways.

I think it also depends on the type of injury/illness. Some things are equally likely to affect both sexes, but with some things there just must be more of one than the other. As one person said, on the cardiac wards there are often more men than women, I guess bc men are more susceptible or have these issues? Also major trauma of thorax/ lungs again the majority seem to be men. But luckily I never saw a mixed room in there. But they couldn't just have an empty room, awaiting females to be admitted when there were queues of men with that condition currently needing a bed.

@Pinkpinkplonk Tell me you've never been on a ward were people have been so ill they can't protect their own dignity without telling me. It's not like 'Only when I laugh ' They're not all sitting nicely in bed wearing pyjamas with matron stomping around .

TBH I think it's very unlikely that maternity/gynaecology wards would be mixed sex 😂

Not at all. Mixed wards is a shit idea. I was in hospital a few months ago, the side ward had just ladies, 3 out of 4 were bedridden, I was the only one not. Every night a crazy man from the next dude wars would walk in and start walking around our beds. He even went into the bay next door and pulled the curtain around! Luckily I was awake and jumped out of bed screaming at him to get out. Nurses didn't give a shit. He did this continuously the whole time I was there. Everyone was constantly on edge. It was horrendous