How do they do it?

Last time I was in hospital I took my ear plugs don't leave home without them, especially as the woman in the next bed was redoing her will after midnight and chatting to her friends she was not popular. So I was told!

sarahellenwhitney, the surgery was obviously NHS but the transfer and care at The Nuffield was paid for privately, (plus I hasten to add a request from the surgeon for superior antibiotics to those initially prescribed).
Quality care should be available to all patients regardless, but sadly there are huge differences.

On the few occasions I've had to stay in hospital, I always gratefully accepted the offer of a sleeping tablet. Apologies to anyone I kept awake with my snoring!

The answer must surely be noise cancelling headphones. BOSE are arguably the best, but there are other good makes that are cheaper. You don't have to listen to music or an audiobook (the latter being my preference), you can just have them switched on. There will be a low level hiss, with the noise of the ward being barely audible.

Now that would have been perfect Stella - if I was ever faced with a longer stay in hospital I think I'd invest in them!

As a very light sleeper at the best of times i am happy that apart from having children 40 odd years ago i have been lucky enough to have never been in hospital overnight since.

But if ever i am i will remenber the ear plugs

Last time I was in hospital there was only I night nurse on duty and everyone was ringing their buzzer when they needed a bed pan, there was no response from the nurse for hours, then when she did turn up she was so bad tempered, complaining about the fact that she had so much to do. When she came to my bed and I told her I needed a bed pan she at first refused, saying I was supposed to get up to go to the toilet, and didn't believe me when I said I had been told not to get out of bed as my leg was paralysed through too much anaesthetic. She said it wasn't true, so I told her to read my notes. She did, then stomped away, brought the bed pan, left it on the table at the bottom of the bed where I couldnt reach it. I had just had a knee replacement done the day before on the other leg, so it took me ages to reach the pan and then I had nowhere to put it after I'd used it, so spent ages again trying to get down to the bottom of the bed again.I was so exhausted that I spent the rest of the night lying the wrong way round on the bed. Not a wink of sleep all night. Next morning , 6 o'clock , in came the new shift nurse, asked why I was lying there, told her what had happened, and she said "Oh, she is always like that, she comes in and goes to sleep, doesn't like it when she has to get up to answer the buzzers" So, I hope now that you all understand that it's not just the patients who can't sleep at night....

Well that's I'm pleased that's all over . Got home at about 5.00 this afternoon, had a cuppa and was in bed before 6.00 for a good, long, undisturbed sleep. Bliss!
All went well, I'm told, no complications or damage caused (phew!). I was in surgery for nearly 3 hours - glad I knew nothing about it .

Good news, glad you're home safely bet that sleep was the best ever! Now enjoy a whole night in your own bed ??

Pippa 000 I agree, I was a Nurse in the sixties and worked a lot of nighst while in training, as you said on the Nightingale wards we were always very quiet, and never disturbed the patients, if we wanted to talk, when we had time, we would move into the kitchen and talk quietly there, yes soft shoes made a difference. Also we were always in the ward during the night,and could see and hear all our patients, no need for alarms etc.
These days people dont go to Hospital to have sleep or rest it seems. A motto here is try to stay healthy!