Normal for hospital admission?
Discussion
Mrs P was unexpectedly admitted to hospital today, after a wound stopped responding to antibiotics (theyve started IV supply).
Shes pretty secure but phoned me ina bit of a state just now- the ward she is on is full of people who feel slightly edgy and intimidating. She's ok with this, doesn't like it but is managing.
The bit that has really upset her was to come back from the loo at 10pm to find a male nurse cataloguing everything she has with her, including going through her knickers, bra, pyjamas, toiletries etc. Various comments like, you've got a lot of clothes and These are pretty. Have made her incredibly uncomfortable and she's about to self discharge.
She's been told that this is because of thefts between patients, but she didn't agree to it and it has made her feel really vulnerable. Unfortunately with two kids at home I can't just go down and see what's actually going on.
Is this normal behaviour nowadays for hospital wards? Does anyone else find this very strange?
How should we deal with it? suck it up?
Shes pretty secure but phoned me ina bit of a state just now- the ward she is on is full of people who feel slightly edgy and intimidating. She's ok with this, doesn't like it but is managing.
The bit that has really upset her was to come back from the loo at 10pm to find a male nurse cataloguing everything she has with her, including going through her knickers, bra, pyjamas, toiletries etc. Various comments like, you've got a lot of clothes and These are pretty. Have made her incredibly uncomfortable and she's about to self discharge.
She's been told that this is because of thefts between patients, but she didn't agree to it and it has made her feel really vulnerable. Unfortunately with two kids at home I can't just go down and see what's actually going on.
Is this normal behaviour nowadays for hospital wards? Does anyone else find this very strange?
How should we deal with it? suck it up?
PugwasHDJ80 said:
How should we deal with it? suck it up?
It's a normal process but no one should feel uncomfortable im a hospital. The staff member may think they are just been friendly but it's the small subconscious actions that lead to normalisation of sexium, racism etc. Report your concerns to the matron of the ward when you visit, or if you ask for PALS they will act on your concern.
The hospital is a professional place of work, and any behaviour that isn't professional needs to be raised and challenged.
Just wait til the night..... f
k me, one bloke with dimensia in a side room, needed a nurse or maybe a trainee all night to stop him, leaving the ward. He was screaming half the night. They took him to the loo 8 times. Then there was the woman from another bay who tried to get into the bed next to mine. The bloke in it was awfully kind to her and took the poor dear back to the empty nursing station, found a nurse, and helped the nurse take her back to her bed.....then there was the coughing, snoring and medical checks going on all night.
I was there because of a heart attack, and was stting myself anyway. Plus it was June 2020, so no visitors allowed...
Im not saying the OPs wife should suck it up, but she's going to be felling vulnerable and scared about why she's in hospital and all the rest going on will only add to the stress. Hope she responds well to the treatment....
k me, one bloke with dimensia in a side room, needed a nurse or maybe a trainee all night to stop him, leaving the ward. He was screaming half the night. They took him to the loo 8 times. Then there was the woman from another bay who tried to get into the bed next to mine. The bloke in it was awfully kind to her and took the poor dear back to the empty nursing station, found a nurse, and helped the nurse take her back to her bed.....then there was the coughing, snoring and medical checks going on all night.I was there because of a heart attack, and was s
tting myself anyway. Plus it was June 2020, so no visitors allowed...Im not saying the OPs wife should suck it up, but she's going to be felling vulnerable and scared about why she's in hospital and all the rest going on will only add to the stress. Hope she responds well to the treatment....
Pit Pony said:
Im not saying the OPs wife should suck it up
I guess that's the approach the Met police seem to have taken??Hospitals aren't places anyone wants to visit for fun, despite what the government keeps on saying about 'bed blockers', I don't know any patient who wants to be in a hospital bed a day longer than they need it.
Staff members who's actions may be inadvertently making certain groups of patients feel unsafe, that needs to be challenged and addressed. What seems like a trivial comment or action for one person may be the quite opposite for another. We are all human so it's impossible to not make flippant remarks, but in a work place we all have to try out best.
If a patient or relative reported OPs concerns in our trust, I would feel incredibly disappointed if those concerns weren't acted on/ignored, followed by some very swift action if those concerns were seen to be 'buried' by middle management or similar. People are often at their most vulnerable in hospital, any thing that adds to that feeling needs to be addressed.
UK boarder control check through people's private belongings everyday, am sure they get complaints too, but doing something in a professional manner is not a hard thing to do at work, but sometimes people do need to be reminded of what the term professional means.
Edited by gangzoom on Tuesday 21st March 06:16
Pit Pony said:
Being the NHS they will have a department solely designed to talk about care quality. They will be interested.
They should be more than just interested, it's a legal obligation.https://www.cqc.org.uk/
But providing external assurance doesn't tackle or address inappropriate cultural practices, sadly the Met police seem to have demonstrated that
. THe OP has to report it, and be satisfied their concerns will be acted on.
Edited by gangzoom on Tuesday 21st March 06:26
Pit Pony said:
Just wait til the night..... fk me, one bloke with dimensia in a side room, needed a nurse or maybe a trainee all night to stop him, leaving the ward. He was screaming half the night. They took him to the loo 8 times. Then there was the woman from another bay who tried to get into the bed next to mine. The bloke in it was awfully kind to her and took the poor dear back to the empty nursing station, found a nurse, and helped the nurse take her back to her bed.....then there was the coughing, snoring and medical checks going on all night.
I was there because of a heart attack, and was stting myself anyway. Plus it was June 2020, so no visitors allowed...
Im not saying the OPs wife should suck it up, but she's going to be felling vulnerable and scared about why she's in hospital and all the rest going on will only add to the stress. Hope she responds well to the treatment....
My ex wife was in hospital about 20 years ago after having her Appendix removed, she was sharing a room with an elderly lady who had dementia. The elderly lady got up in the middle of the night stark naked, wandering about and asking where her nightie was and that it was "wrapped up with a pair of pants".k me, one bloke with dimensia in a side room, needed a nurse or maybe a trainee all night to stop him, leaving the ward. He was screaming half the night. They took him to the loo 8 times. Then there was the woman from another bay who tried to get into the bed next to mine. The bloke in it was awfully kind to her and took the poor dear back to the empty nursing station, found a nurse, and helped the nurse take her back to her bed.....then there was the coughing, snoring and medical checks going on all night.I was there because of a heart attack, and was s
tting myself anyway. Plus it was June 2020, so no visitors allowed...Im not saying the OPs wife should suck it up, but she's going to be felling vulnerable and scared about why she's in hospital and all the rest going on will only add to the stress. Hope she responds well to the treatment....
After lunch she also decided to take the plates to the sink in the room to wash them up and got water everywhere.
My ex wife ended up discharging herself against the doctors wishes and phoned me at work begging me to come and collect her.
I have never been to hospital myself, but I am thankful I have private health cover through work.
Thanks all for your thoughts- much appreciated.
Hospitals can certainly be intimidating places, and having been moved ward late last night, the new ward has some characters which are making Mrs P very uncomfortable.
As to the inventory- sure take a list of the expensive stuff (or any items that we want to record), but a random bloke going through Mrs Ps knickers is not ok!
Hospitals can certainly be intimidating places, and having been moved ward late last night, the new ward has some characters which are making Mrs P very uncomfortable.
As to the inventory- sure take a list of the expensive stuff (or any items that we want to record), but a random bloke going through Mrs Ps knickers is not ok!
Just to say not OK.
Family member was in recently, the only time any nurse went into her bags was then she said to them "please open my bag and give me XYZ".
Other patients on the ward can be a bit hit and miss, she did have the wonderful experience of another patient trying to get into her bed at 2am, but on ringing the bell the nurses sorted that out ASAP.
Amazing nurses and everyone else in the hospital, they did their best to keep everyone as happy as possible!
Family member was in recently, the only time any nurse went into her bags was then she said to them "please open my bag and give me XYZ".
Other patients on the ward can be a bit hit and miss, she did have the wonderful experience of another patient trying to get into her bed at 2am, but on ringing the bell the nurses sorted that out ASAP.
Amazing nurses and everyone else in the hospital, they did their best to keep everyone as happy as possible!
PugwasHDJ80 said:
Thanks all for your thoughts- much appreciated.
Hospitals can certainly be intimidating places, and having been moved ward late last night, the new ward has some characters which are making Mrs P very uncomfortable.
As to the inventory- sure take a list of the expensive stuff (or any items that we want to record), but a random bloke going through Mrs Ps knickers is not ok!
Perhaps worth making contact with PALS at the hospital?Hospitals can certainly be intimidating places, and having been moved ward late last night, the new ward has some characters which are making Mrs P very uncomfortable.
As to the inventory- sure take a list of the expensive stuff (or any items that we want to record), but a random bloke going through Mrs Ps knickers is not ok!
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/what-is-...
Some of the other posts on this thread brought back memories of my two weeks on orthopaedic trauma after breaking a femur in a car accident. An old gentlemen in our bay had fallen and broken his hip. He would spend all night shouting for his wife, so the other 5 of us got zero sleep and were turning into complete zombies after a few days.
PugwasHDJ80 said:
Mrs P was unexpectedly admitted to hospital today, after a wound stopped responding to antibiotics (theyve started IV supply).
Shes pretty secure but phoned me ina bit of a state just now- the ward she is on is full of people who feel slightly edgy and intimidating. She's ok with this, doesn't like it but is managing.
The bit that has really upset her was to come back from the loo at 10pm to find a male nurse cataloguing everything she has with her, including going through her knickers, bra, pyjamas, toiletries etc. Various comments like, you've got a lot of clothes and These are pretty. Have made her incredibly uncomfortable and she's about to self discharge.
She's been told that this is because of thefts between patients, but she didn't agree to it and it has made her feel really vulnerable. Unfortunately with two kids at home I can't just go down and see what's actually going on.
Is this normal behaviour nowadays for hospital wards? Does anyone else find this very strange?
How should we deal with it? suck it up?
" a ward full of people who feel slightly edgy and intimidating" is this the staff or patients?Shes pretty secure but phoned me ina bit of a state just now- the ward she is on is full of people who feel slightly edgy and intimidating. She's ok with this, doesn't like it but is managing.
The bit that has really upset her was to come back from the loo at 10pm to find a male nurse cataloguing everything she has with her, including going through her knickers, bra, pyjamas, toiletries etc. Various comments like, you've got a lot of clothes and These are pretty. Have made her incredibly uncomfortable and she's about to self discharge.
She's been told that this is because of thefts between patients, but she didn't agree to it and it has made her feel really vulnerable. Unfortunately with two kids at home I can't just go down and see what's actually going on.
Is this normal behaviour nowadays for hospital wards? Does anyone else find this very strange?
How should we deal with it? suck it up?
Sorry I now note your update "having been moved ward late last night, the new ward has some characters which are making Mrs P very uncomfortable"
Edited by LimmerickLad on Tuesday 21st March 15:00
When my wife was in hospital a couple of months ago she had to sign a form saying having her belongings was at her own risk and they wouldn't be held liable but there was no documenting of it. However whilst she was in the recess ward I overheard one of the nurses saying about doing an inventory list for a homeless lady who had been dumped on them by the police and was seemingly carrying her lifes belongings so guess it does happen.
PugwasHDJ80 said:
Thanks all for your thoughts- much appreciated.
Hospitals can certainly be intimidating places, and having been moved ward late last night, the new ward has some characters which are making Mrs P very uncomfortable.
As to the inventory- sure take a list of the expensive stuff (or any items that we want to record), but a random bloke going through Mrs Ps knickers is not ok!
Oh yeah, dashed my reply off quickly earlier... Whilst the idea seems sensible the execution is somewhat "flawed" (totally out of order) and a conversation with PALS seems more than appropriate.Hospitals can certainly be intimidating places, and having been moved ward late last night, the new ward has some characters which are making Mrs P very uncomfortable.
As to the inventory- sure take a list of the expensive stuff (or any items that we want to record), but a random bloke going through Mrs Ps knickers is not ok!
popeyewhite said:
Your wife is in the NHS mill now. Personal item checks are not uncommon, how they are conducted can vary. You cannot chose who you share a ward with. If you want the softly softly approach go private. Sorry for the bluntness but that's the bottom line.
Yep. Too much time and money goes towards dealing with complaints re lost/stolen personal items. It doesn't surprise me a ward wants inventory taken on any new patient. As someone else said above, it's very likely they have agency staff or are running short and just want to get the job ticked off. 10pm is 3 hours into the night shift and they will have skeleton crew. That is the state of NHS care now.Standard procedure at my local trust hospitals - pretty much as soon as you are admitted.
In my case - sat down and went through a long form of tick boxes with a nurse - they ask if you have x then tick.
They sign at the bottom, then you get a copy. On discharge, you sign their copy and that’s it.
In my elderly mums case - the ward sister did it for her so there was some confusion on mums part about what was going on
It either way, it doesn’t stop stuff going missing and there’s not a lot they can do anyway.
It does help stop some people claiming they’ve had something stolen and trying to cause agro on the ward.
In my case - sat down and went through a long form of tick boxes with a nurse - they ask if you have x then tick.
They sign at the bottom, then you get a copy. On discharge, you sign their copy and that’s it.
In my elderly mums case - the ward sister did it for her so there was some confusion on mums part about what was going on
It either way, it doesn’t stop stuff going missing and there’s not a lot they can do anyway.
It does help stop some people claiming they’ve had something stolen and trying to cause agro on the ward.
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