You just can't get a good night's sleep in the hospital
A 72-year-old woman in Germany has been arrested after she allegedly twice switched off a hospital roommate’s ventilator because she was annoyed by the sound it made.
The last time I was in the hospital (And with the current "care-to-grave" treatments, it will be my last), they had a 'state of the art' bed that was like an air mattress. Trouble is, it would occasionally turn on a small air compressor to fill it up. Bout the time you're about to drop off, "rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and you'd wake back up. I finally unplugged the damn thing, made it hard as a rock to sleep on, but I was able to catnap, between the 30-to-45 minute on the hour 'vitals checks'.
I spent a few weeks in a terminal care facility with my mother 2 years ago. She had that kind of bed. She was not very communicative but expressed a desire to sleep on the bed they had brought in for me to sleep on, so I said sure and slept on her bed... NO... TRIED to sleep on her bed. As you said, bout the time you're about to drop off, the pump starts up, and the only thing you can do is turn off the pump. If I understand correctly, the intention in the design is to prevent bedsores, by alternately filling and emptying the air mattress. It's badly carried out. Maybe filling an accumulator and letting the accumulator pressurize the mattress would make it possible to sleep...
Reminds me of a story. 15 years ago my grandfather had terminal cancer. He was moved from the palliative care ward at a local hospital (one of most horrible places I've ever experienced, it was just pure misery) to a long term care facility where he would live for another three weeks.
Anyway this facility agreed to take him and justify the purchase of a fancy new bed that would allow someone to sleep on it without feeling pressure anywhere, or something like that. This bed arrived the same day he did and they tried to claim "it's needed elsewhere, so he won't be using it." My mom went absolutely NUCLEAR and let's just say he got to sleep in his fancy new bed and received a hell of a lot attention from them during those three weeks.
That was when I learned that it's absolutely critical that you visit as often as you can when you have a family member in LTC, because it's the only way to ensure the staff doesn't neglect your family member. My dad's been in such a place for over 3 years now and everybody there knows us.
Also, if you have a well behaved dog, take your dog, it brightens the day of even the most miserable residents.
Doesn't sound like she's old enough to claim her behavior was "grandfathered in."
ReplyDeleteSwitching off the ventilator seems pretty severe, but you should know from history that Germans don't fuck around.
ReplyDeleteEd
Damn tightwads STILL wouldn't give her a private room! --nines
ReplyDeleteThere's a thin line between a good night's sleep and eternal rest.
ReplyDeleteThe long-standing joke about my local hospital is that it's where you go to die.
The last time I was in the hospital (And with the current "care-to-grave" treatments, it will be my last), they had a 'state of the art' bed that was like an air mattress. Trouble is, it would occasionally turn on a small air compressor to fill it up.
ReplyDeleteBout the time you're about to drop off, "rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and you'd wake back up.
I finally unplugged the damn thing, made it hard as a rock to sleep on, but I was able to catnap, between the 30-to-45 minute on the hour 'vitals checks'.
I spent a few weeks in a terminal care facility with my mother 2 years ago. She had that kind of bed. She was not very communicative but expressed a desire to sleep on the bed they had brought in for me to sleep on, so I said sure and slept on her bed... NO... TRIED to sleep on her bed. As you said, bout the time you're about to drop off, the pump starts up, and the only thing you can do is turn off the pump.
DeleteIf I understand correctly, the intention in the design is to prevent bedsores, by alternately filling and emptying the air mattress. It's badly carried out. Maybe filling an accumulator and letting the accumulator pressurize the mattress would make it possible to sleep...
Reminds me of a story. 15 years ago my grandfather had terminal cancer. He was moved from the palliative care ward at a local hospital (one of most horrible places I've ever experienced, it was just pure misery) to a long term care facility where he would live for another three weeks.
DeleteAnyway this facility agreed to take him and justify the purchase of a fancy new bed that would allow someone to sleep on it without feeling pressure anywhere, or something like that. This bed arrived the same day he did and they tried to claim "it's needed elsewhere, so he won't be using it." My mom went absolutely NUCLEAR and let's just say he got to sleep in his fancy new bed and received a hell of a lot attention from them during those three weeks.
That was when I learned that it's absolutely critical that you visit as often as you can when you have a family member in LTC, because it's the only way to ensure the staff doesn't neglect your family member. My dad's been in such a place for over 3 years now and everybody there knows us.
Also, if you have a well behaved dog, take your dog, it brightens the day of even the most miserable residents.
I think the thing to do would be for the hospital to put them in different rooms. Save the drama.
ReplyDeleteDaryl