Friday, January 13, 2012

Wait! Breaking news! “Loud hospital rooms linked to poor patient sleep”


Now here’s a surprise, according to a recent article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, hospitals are noisy and patients aren’t sleeping well.

For those of you who’ve spent any time at all in a hospital, this may come as some sort of shock. I suggest immediate bed rest…but not in a hospital if you want to sleep.

I think, but am not completely sure, that one of the reasons I had an MRI prior to my surgery was to get me use to the comforting noises I would encounter in the hospital.

I’m kidding! :-) A hospital is a hard place to get some rest…especially during the day.

Why? Because everybody, and I mean everybody, feels like they can walk into your room at any time. 

“Sorry Mr. K,” (without really meaning it) blurts the guy that came around every morning at 5am or so just to peer in my eye and make sure I was alive. 

“Time to change your IV.”  In bustles a nurse.

“Has your bed been made yet?”  A nurse’s assistant strolls in.

“Time for your vitals.”  Ditto.

“Has somebody checked your stitches?”  In pops a resident.

“Have you ordered breakfast? Lunch? Dinner?” In comes the waitress (dressed in a spiffy tuxedo, I must add).

“How about your pills?  Want some water?”

“Time for physical therapy.”

“Time for occupational therapy.”

“Can I clean your room?”

“Have you gone #2 yet? Want a ‘stool softener’?” (I usually answered “no” and “yes”)

“You have a visitor.”

That was my experience. And since I’m a bit tired, and I’m not in the hospital, I’m going to take a nap.

Oh, and here’s a link to the Reuters article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/10/us-hospital-sleep-idUSTRE8092CV20120110 (It looks like you have to pay for complete info on the original study).

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