Can we talk?

No Rest in Hospitals

         Funny, peculiar, how in hospitals they encourage the sick or recuperating patient to eat, to walk when able, but don't include peaceful rest as part of the recovery program. I knew that as a patient I never slept through a whole night. You can nap in the day time when there are no appointments or x-rays, etc., but then they fuss at you for not getting up and moving around. No one is allowed to sleep in hospitals.

         Even if they don't have to do a lot for you, they still creep into your room, and adjust your IV. I suppose some people can sleep through that, but most don't. Then there's the noise, dropping things, and shouting in the hallway at least past midnight. And although you can go for hours unattended if you don't need much during the day, they don't leave you alone more than 25 minutes or so at night.

         My brother is currently staying in a big Texas hospital, recovering from chest surgery. He's had a rib removed, his diaphragm, and part of the lining of a lung. During the surgery, they applied a hot chemo bath. Chemo makes you sick even without surgery. He's been attached to a lot of machinery for a week, and is in a lot of pain. Now he's detached from most of the machinery, and they have to take him off the pain meds to avoid addiction. He's in agony. He has no appetite, he's in pain, he's weak and losing muscle. My other brother has stayed with him on a sofa in the room with him. He's been keeping a journal about times and pain level, etc. He's exhausted from lack of sleep and he hasn't had chemo or surgery. How much worse is it for the patient?

         He spoke to the doctor today about it, and begged to let him leave at night just to sleep and come back in the morning. Friday night, 25 minutes after waking him for something, a nurse was back in to make him take a potassium pill. Is it really necessary to wake a patient up for potassium? Can't that wait? I know they're from different departments just making their rounds, but can't they put the patient first and organize their systems a little better?

         Yes, hospitals have to be efficient to be cost effective, but when they lose sight of the patient's well-being, they're failing.