Vent about hospitals

[annieh22]

It's the worst part. How can I rest with all this noise and someone coming in the room and just turning on lights every 5 minutes?

I get that they need to do their job, but I do wish there was a better way so patients could get better rest.

[bowies]

I feel like the level of fucks is directly proportional to how severe your ailment is. The postpartum wing at the hospital was like Grand Central Station. The cardiac floor was like a library and the nurses were able to draw blood with minimal light. The biggest commotion was when the old guy across the hall kept trying to escape.

[spk926]

It's the fucking worst. I was on hospital bed rest a week before they induced me and I got veeeeery little sleep. Not only did I have a blood pressure cuff on me 24 hours a day that automatically went off every 20-30 minutes and a HR monitor for baby strapped to my belly but the constant noise was unbelievable. They had me in the labor part of the floor, not the recovery part. So I could also hear women that were very vocal during their labor at all hours of the day and night. It's no wonder why I was beyond exhausted once DD was finally born. I hadn't properly slept in over a week and then went through 24 hours of labor, 3 of which were pushing. I'm not bitter or anything.

[jeaniebueller]

It's ridiculous. When I hAd dD, our room was outside the nursing station and they were loud at all hours of the night.

[anna7602]

spk926, that sounds awful. I'm sorry!

And yes, I hated the hospital both times I delivered, although time #2 seemed worse. (Maybe because I was like, this is my one chance to escape DD's constant chatter and I still have to listen to ALL OF THIS?!?)

[VillainV]

Depends on the hospital. When C was in the hospital this summer, they were very conscientious about the noise level (it was a children's wing). They should us how to silence all alarms (they could still see it out at the nurses' station), and were very careful not to talk loudly in the hallway. It kind of sucked that they had to come in several times a night to take his temp, check vitals, give meds, etc, but they were very receptive to our requests to change the schedule a little to accommodate C's sleep patterns.

[jessnpaul]

When i was in the hospital on "bedrest" my OB offered me Ambien because I complained i wasn't actually getting much rest. It had nothing to do with sleep issues... it had to do with the constant poking, prodding, and construction going on down the hall!

I slept perfectly once they released me for home. You really can't rest in a hospital

[anaps28]

I am right there with you.
When DS2 was in the hospital for croup 3 months ago I could have murdered everyone. I think it was my lack of sleep on top of everyone coming and going.
Nothing beats the people who come with a herd of small children who run up and down the hallways at 9pm. I mean I know shit happens and you gotta take your kids places but please please don't let them run all over the damn place at all hours.

[212]

Poor R. I hope he gets better asap.

And yes, fuck hospitals. I begged my OB to discharge me early this time-- if I'm going to listen to NOISE, I can fucking do that at home with my toddler. Kthanksbye.

[Marmee]

That sucks . Guess I've been lucky but every hospital I've ever been in visiting or as a patient was super quiet.

[spk926]

Dec 1, 2015 22:18:31 GMT -5 jessnpaul said:

When i was in the hospital on "bedrest" my OB offered me Ambien because I complained i wasn't actually getting much rest. It had nothing to do with sleep issues... it had to do with the constant poking, prodding, and construction going on down the hall!

I slept perfectly once they released me for home. You really can't rest in a hospital

Haha me too! My first night there the OB on call prescribed me some (my doc was still on vacation then) and I was all smug, "I don't need this. I'm not having any problems sleeping. {hair flip}"

Yeah......the next night I asked the nurse to fill it and give me some. Didn't help much but it was better than nothing. 

[nessness]

When DD was born it was really loud in the recovery rooms area, but DD was in the NICU and it was silent in there, like uncomfortably so. They were set up for maybe 15-20 babies and there were only 1-2 other babies there, and they kept the lights dim and everyone spoke quietly.

[humpforfree]

Yes! When I was in the hospital after E was born, the effing night nurse came in to measure the Bili lights on her. AND WOKE HER UP TO CHANGE HER DIAPER! Then she was all shocked that my newborn was crying "is it because I woke her up to change her?" Uh yes effer! Omg I was shooting her daggers- I was asleep and the baby was asleep finally and now we were both up & I needed to feed her to get her back to sleep, losing another hour. And the nurse seemed like she just came in because she was bored. There was no need for her there at that time. I did mention it to the unit mgr when she came to recap with me.

[Saudade]

Just a note. One hospital I was at, on the birth unit, is aiming for 80% of the nurses' time being spent with the patient. I think that's crazy as no PP mom wants her nurse with her that much.

chilerellanos, are you having to do that?

[oceanstbride]

Dec 1, 2015 22:11:24 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

It sucks.

It's something we are constantly working on.

We hate the alarms also. I go home in the morning and hear them in my sleep.

Ditto this.
The floor I worked on was fairly quiet at night from about midnight until 3:30am. But that's about it Between getting vitals every 4 hours (4am) and phlebotomy who started blood draws at 4am, med students and residents rounding at 5, and attendings rounding at 6 - it was very loud when we're all used to being asleep. We try to "cluster" care, especially overnight. Ex. if phlebotomy is about to go in and I need to do vitals or give a med, I'll go in with them so that there's just one interruption instead of multiple people coming in at different times within a short time period. We also do "Quiet time" at 3pm daily, where we check on our patients and try to take care of anything that needs to be taken care of by then so that they have at least an hour to relax during the day. I promise you that the majority of floors in all hospitals are trying to come up with ways to reduce noise.

@pnkybrwstr - If machines start beeping, ring your call bell. The nurse may not hear it if the door's closed! Also, I hope R is feeling better and you get to go home soon!

[Brie]

When I was in the children's hospital with P his room was directly under the helipad. That was fun.

[Saudade]

Dec 1, 2015 23:14:56 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

Dec 1, 2015 23:08:43 GMT -5 Saudade said:

Just a note. One hospital I was at, on the birth unit, is aiming for 80% of the nurses' time being spent with the patient. I think that's crazy as no PP mom wants her nurse with her that much.

chilerellanos, are you having to do that?

We don't have that. But we have noble and we have to log into the computer and mark that we were in the room every single hour. What PP mom wants that? None!

It's supposed to cut down on call lights and increase satisfaction. But the call light lovers still out their calls lights on just as often.

Also, we are now nursing the computer and quantifying our care. I'm fairly certain future raises will depend on how often we are on time with rounding.

Ugh it's crazy. DH has to do "ca.re round.ing" every hour and document it. However, being ICU, most patients are vented/sedated. So it doesn't really work well. Lol.

I'm pretty sure if my nurse came in each hour like that my patient satisfaction survey would be negative. I just don't want to be bothered and I'm sure most other moms don't either.

[sa]

Being a terribly light sleeper, I've always had to request that they keep nightly visits to a minimum and be quiet. They have always been very respectful of that.

I also learned how to silence the IV pump.

[Deleted]

NPR actually did a study about this last spring! www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/wont-hospitals-let-patients-sleep/

I agree. I fucking lost it on a night nurse when I was postpartum with DD. I had 48 hours of labor with very little sleep, then someone was in my room every 30 minutes overnight for "just a little this" or "one quick that." I told her very sternly that I needed 4 straight hours of sleep or I was fucking checking myself out and taking a cab home at midnight.

[Saudade]

Dec 1, 2015 23:22:05 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

Dec 1, 2015 23:19:12 GMT -5 Saudade said:

Ugh it's crazy. DH has to do "ca.re round.ing" every hour and document it. However, being ICU, most patients are vented/sedated. So it doesn't really work well. Lol.

I'm pretty sure if my nurse came in each hour like that my patient satisfaction survey would be negative. I just don't want to be bothered and I'm sure most other moms don't either.

Right? And they have no way to opt out. I tell them to complain to our managers.

"Do you need a bathroom?" Nope foley in place
"Do you need a bedpan?" Nope fms in place

Lol

[jorja]

It's actually a big "thing" we are trying to fix on our unit right now.

There's no excuse for the chatting. All I can say is people forget that while they are wide awake and at work, patients are trying to sleep. It's the middle of the "day" for those of us who work nights, and sometimes people are just inconsiderate.

The beeping annoys us, too. I always turn the volume on my pumps down, but there's really no way to have it beep so only we can hear it. Don't hesitate to ring your bell...sometimes I have patients all the way down the hall, and if I'm in with them I won't hear my other pumps.

I also hear phantom beeps once I'm home chilerellanos.

Also absolutely no excuse for the lights being turned on and loudness in the room at night. She should be getting her meds as ready as possible directly outside the room and then using minimal light once in there. I never ever turn lights on in my patient's rooms unless I'm doing something like starting an IV.

[ladygrey]

Dec 1, 2015 23:09:16 GMT -5 oceanstbride said:

Dec 1, 2015 22:11:24 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

It sucks.

It's something we are constantly working on.

We hate the alarms also. I go home in the morning and hear them in my sleep.

Ditto this.
The floor I worked on was fairly quiet at night from about midnight until 3:30am. But that's about it Between getting vitals every 4 hours (4am) and phlebotomy who started blood draws at 4am, med students and residents rounding at 5, and attendings rounding at 6 - it was very loud when we're all used to being asleep. We try to "cluster" care, especially overnight. Ex. if phlebotomy is about to go in and I need to do vitals or give a med, I'll go in with them so that there's just one interruption instead of multiple people coming in at different times within a short time period. We also do "Quiet time" at 3pm daily, where we check on our patients and try to take care of anything that needs to be taken care of by then so that they have at least an hour to relax during the day. I promise you that the majority of floors in all hospitals are trying to come up with ways to reduce noise.

@pnkybrwstr - If machines start beeping, ring your call bell. The nurse may not hear it if the door's closed! Also, I hope R is feeling better and you get to go home soon!

Is there a particular reason that residents and attending docs come around so early in the morning? I wanted to punch the overly-perky resident who bounded into our room at 5:00 am and then acted all surprised that we were sleeping. Grr... 

[Deleted]

Dec 1, 2015 23:38:59 GMT -5 ladygrey said:

Dec 1, 2015 23:09:16 GMT -5 oceanstbride said:

Ditto this.
The floor I worked on was fairly quiet at night from about midnight until 3:30am. But that's about it Between getting vitals every 4 hours (4am) and phlebotomy who started blood draws at 4am, med students and residents rounding at 5, and attendings rounding at 6 - it was very loud when we're all used to being asleep. We try to "cluster" care, especially overnight. Ex. if phlebotomy is about to go in and I need to do vitals or give a med, I'll go in with them so that there's just one interruption instead of multiple people coming in at different times within a short time period. We also do "Quiet time" at 3pm daily, where we check on our patients and try to take care of anything that needs to be taken care of by then so that they have at least an hour to relax during the day. I promise you that the majority of floors in all hospitals are trying to come up with ways to reduce noise.

@pnkybrwstr - If machines start beeping, ring your call bell. The nurse may not hear it if the door's closed! Also, I hope R is feeling better and you get to go home soon!

Is there a particular reason that residents and attending docs come around so early in the morning? I wanted to punch the overly-perky resident who bounded into our room at 5:00 am and then acted all surprised that we were sleeping. Grr... 

Because there are a lot of patients to see and OR and clinic/office hours start early in the morning. Every place I've been in, the first scheduled OR case usually starts around 7 am. So have to get everything done before then. Or clinic or office hours start at 8 or 9. 

For non surgical specialties, rounds start early because by the time you see all the patients, discuss the case, write your note and do follow up tasks it's already lunch time. Then in the afternoon you pretty much have to follow up on everything again and still don't get done until the evening. 

I would also much rather be sleeping at 5:30am and not waking up people too. I always try to be as quiet and peaceful as possible while still doing my job that early in the morning. I don't think it's ideal for anyone as I'd much rather start later and work less than 13 hours a day!

[jewel]

After I had delivered and we were in the regular recovery section of the hospital, the nurse offered to put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on our door. YES PLEASE. Obviously, if you're there because you're sick you probably can't do this, but I thought it was a great idea. No cafeteria deliveries, social security people, janitors, baby photographers, etc. for several hours.

[sierramist03]

This is exactly how we felt. They did my vital separate from the baby's which all required light and the freaking nurses call button rang all night long!!! Plus we'd finally get baby asleep and they would come in wanting to do something. We also thought it was weird they did the lab draw and shot for the baby two separate times in the night. DH and I came home exhausted! With a newborn that was great fun.

[dottyblue]

Oh wow. I'm very thankful for my nurses during my two deliveries. I definitely had the sleep issues but they took specific care to coordinate visits so I wasn't woken up every 5 minutes.

I also put up my own Do Not Disturb sign, brought my white noise machine (cue remarks on "I would have to pee all the time listening to that!" Made by every single person who entered my room LOL), and taped the light switch at night so some random walking in wouldn't just flip it on without thinking. I was still a sleep deprived mess by the time I got home, but it could have been much much worse.

[pooh8402]

Dec 1, 2015 22:11:24 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

It sucks.

It's something we are constantly working on.

We hate the alarms also. I go home in the morning and hear them in my sleep.

Ditto this. My hospital is implementing a "quiet hour" between 1430 and 1600, where we discourage (but not forbid) visitors, dim the lights, lower our voices, and ancillary services like lab, dietary, housekeeping, etc, are not supposed to bother patients. Of course, all of this is supposed to apply between 2100 and 0600 as well, but it doesn't always work due to the nature of the beast, especially L&D.

It's really really difficult, and trust us, the nurses are aware of the need for rest and try to allow that. It doesn't help that we are required to round on patients hourly during the day and every 2 hours at night. I hate that, especially for healthy patients on postpartum.