This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

Sleeping on a Ward / Being unable to decide about choices

Posted By RisingSunRays

"Sleeping on a Ward / Being unable to decide about choices"

About: Royal Cornwall Hospital (Treliske) / General surgery

(as a service user),

I have been twice been admitted as an emergency in the last month. Both times resulted in an inpatient stay of around 6 days.

One admission, I had great difficulty in getting to sleep and staying asleep, because of the noise and light. Other patients did not appear to have similar problems with insomnia to me.

At home there is no background noise or light, which means that when I am away from home I need earplugs and eye shades / eye mask.

Once I had these in hospital my sleeping improved from perhaps 2 hours to 6 hours a night. But it still took perhaps a week to catch up on the sleep deprivation I experienced when first on a hospital ward.

Patients could be routinely aspected whether they have insomnia, and what they need in order to sleep well.

During both admissions I was often asked what I wanted. eg. was I in pain and did I need pain killers?

For the first few days of each admission I was in pain, exhausted, sleep deprived, and confused, particularly at night when dreams and waking blurred together leaving me disoriented and confused.

I didn't feel able to make even simple decisions and just wanted the medical and nursing staff to make those decisions for me.

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Laura Fletcher, Clinical Pathway Navigator, Clinical Oncology, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust 2 years ago
Laura Fletcher
Clinical Pathway Navigator, Clinical Oncology,
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

Submitted on 19/10/2021 at 10:53
Published on Care Opinion at 10:53

picture of Laura Fletcher

Dear RisingSunRays,

Firstly, please accept my apologies in responding to your story - as you can imagine it has been rather busy.

Secondly, I am so sorry to hear that you have had this experience with not being able to sleep on the wards at our hospital - Insomnia can be awful, especially when sleeping somewhere new. It would be helpful to know which ward you stayed on so we can ensure the correct team receives this feedback - to do this please either reply to this post or email us at rcht.patientengagement@nhs.net if you prefer.

If you would like to take your concerns further, please don't hesitate to contact the team on: 01872 252793 or email us at rcht.patientexperience@nhs.net.

Kindest regards

Laura Fletcher

Patient Experience Administrator

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by RisingSunRays (a service user)

I stayed on several wards: Coronary Care, Eden, and Roskear.

I do understand that wards need to adequate light levels so that staff can monitor all patients. And that wards are often busy and noisy environments, looking after patients with diverse needs, including emergency resus to keep patients alive.

One ward provided foam ear plugs, which were very useful (I use them whenever I am away from home, and find them essential.) The other essential accessory for me sleeping in a non-dark, noisy environment is fabric eye shades - which were not available on any ward. Had I been an elective patient I would have brought along my own silk eye shades and foam ear plugs.

I would happily donate up to 50 fabric eye shades if an RCHT student wants to do a pilot research project into 'the effectiveness of using fabric eye shades in reducing sleep deprivation in an inpatient environment.

Response from Jess Saunders, Patient Engagement and Feedback Coordinator, Patient + Family Experience Team, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust 2 years ago
We are preparing to make a change
Jess Saunders
Patient Engagement and Feedback Coordinator, Patient + Family Experience Team,
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

Submitted on 29/10/2021 at 16:49
Published on Care Opinion at 17:03

picture of Jess Saunders

Dear RisingSunRays,

Thank you for taking the time to get back in touch. Since you have replied, I have contacted the Associate Director of Nursing for Research, Innovation and Improvement, Frazer Underwood and the Ward Leaders in charge of the wards you visited to see if there are any students wanting to run a research project in their area. I have not had a response from the specific ward areas yet, but I am sure you will appreciate, they are very busy at the moment.

What I can tell you is, after speaking to Frazer, we have decided to run a trial of eye shades on our new ward; Wheal Vor, when it opens in the coming weeks. We are in touch with the "Patient Experience Library" who have kindly said that they will provide us with all known research into sleeping at night on a hospital ward. I will work with Frazer and the Ward Manager to make sure we can get feedback from our patients and indeed our staff to see how effective the trial is.

I hope to update you in a few months time to let you know how we are getting on.

Best wishes,

Jess

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by RisingSunRays (a service user)

I am very pleased to hear that my personal experience has generated some interest including a trial of using Eye Shades.

I don't think Eye Shades will be liked by all patients, and it may only be a small number who find them really useful. So the research method should consider how best to identify patients who might benefit from trying out Eye Shades.

And evaluate the benefit for those who like using the Eye Shades, separately from those who don't like using them.

Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k