Hospital roommate etiquette

[NikitaZee]

I'm going into the hospital for surgery next month, I should be in about 2 nights. I've only been in the hospital for childbirth, and I had my own room then. What I'd like to know is - is there any specific etiquette when you share a room with someone I should know about? Specifically, closing the curtain between the beds (I imagine I'd like to keep it closed on my side, but would that be rude or unfriendly?) Say a quick hello and introduce myself, or chat nicely when no one is visiting? I really don't know. I'm already nervous about going in, and I'm the type that would rather be alone, but I'll be in a semi-private room and don't really know what to expect. Thanks!

 

[lizabu]

I always kept that curtain closed too. I don't need someone staring at me all day.

 

[mickeyboat]

I would not feel badly if you were my roommate and wanted to have the curtain closed.

I was in the hospital for two 1/2 weeks before DD11 was born, and for part of that time I had a roommate. I didn't like it at first, but after a while it was nice to have someone to chat with. I often wonder what happened to her.

Good luck!

 

[minkydog]

Bring a can of air freshener for the bathroom

 

[mamajo]

OMG, when I was in for my hysterectomy, I got stuck with the roommate from hell. The phone rang constantly (for her) and she would not answer it. She was a PITA for the nurses all night long too. I finally quit answering the phone (I'm serious-- constant phone calls and ringing) and she says, "Aren't you going to get that?" and I said, "I'm not your answering service, I just had major surgery here!" She got pissed but I didn't care at that point. They moved her out the next night. Much nicer. Just remember to take care of yourself first!! Pull the curtain. You need to recover. You can be friendly but don't be a door mat (like me!) Hope it goes well.

 

[FormrCastMbr]

I just had my thyroid removed in Dec. and had a roomate for the one night I stayed. The curtain was closed when I was moved into the room and she had company. I guess neither one of us felt like talking due to having surgery on our neck so we did not speak much (we said hi and had a little small talk). I was very sore and on pain and sleeping meds so I was not worried about talking at that point. Just play it by ear. Good luck!

 

[BunsenH]

My hospital rules:

Be sick enough to need the ICU, and well enough to survive and go home quickly.

Semi-private does not mean 50% private, it means 0% private.

Bring headphones. Maury and the various Judge shows can be loud.

Practice your calming mantras ahead of time.

(Can you tell I was an only child?)

Good luck and have a speedy recovery.

 

[tvguy]

My brother spent 3 months in the hospital earlier this year, he had a parade of room mates that all drove him crazy. Said it was far worse than having to share a sleeping area with 200 other sailors when he was in the Navy.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Just make sure any visitors that you have keep their voices low and don't let kids climb around the room or go around the curtain and stare at the other person or something.

My MIL was in the hospital after cancer surgery this last summer and she got very frustrated with her roommates for those reasons (but she was having a hard time and was extra sensitive). Sometimes I didn't think they were being so bad but she was getting overly annoyed with all their visitors because she needed lots of quiet and rest.

 

[LindaG4458]

I was in the hospital for six weeks and confined to bed (back surgery). I had three roommates for various lengths of time.

One had tons of company (who took over the entire room. I yelled at one kid who did one of those vault things on the end of my bed), lots of phone calls, and smoked in bed in the middle of the night. She also told me she wasn't motivated to get well since she was on a workman's comp claim.

Another was a lot of fun and we remained friends for several years after discharge. The third was elderly but a real character. We had fun, too.

If I had it to do over again I would remain on my side of the room with the curtain closed. Actually, I would insist on a single room.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Well 2 years ago I had 7 operations and I had some real "interesting" room mates

ICU - Best, you get all the attention and no room mates
Radiation room - quarantined in there with no visitors except staff for a day

lst room mate after my coma - cursed all the time, had diverticulitis, in the bathroom alot, sorry as her famiy never visited her, coughed so much they moved her out.

2nd room mate- almost died in a car accident, broke all 4 limbs and had to have her jaw wired shut. She asked me about staples, I felt so bad I didnt eat once as she couldnt eat and kept smelling my food. I told ds to take it in the hall etc. She was in so much pain and had a central line put in bedside 4 nurses had to move her on a board to get her out of the bed and into a chair. Poor thing.

3rd room mate - only spoke creole, stayed a day

4th room mate - had a concussion, had a colostomy bag she kept pulling off driving the nurses crazy. couldnt really verbalize well. Family barely came to see her. Even her son had the nerve to use the bathroom. The sign says..for patients only

5th room mate - I call her the diva queen. Knew someone who worked in the hosp. so the staff was nice to her. Had to have her fuzzy pink bathrobe after back surgery. Cried alot. Complained about everything. She went home in 2 days. I was in there a week then. The one night I noticed after I fell asleep that she had them shut the door, I am claustrophobic, so I didnt like that at all, but the nurses were being really noisy in the hall. I was by the window so some light came in. I was not happy about that for sure.

6th room mate - broke both her legs, kept the curtain closed alot. Couldnt get up to use the bathroom, yeah for me!! Complained when I was crying in pain that it was bothering her etc. Said this to her dh, but I heard her. She got moved to rehab so I got the room to myself, yeah!

Another time I hd a lady kept popping into my room. I guess we both were alone. She thought I had an ortho problem too but I told her I had cancer. She was always coming in and talking. Sometimes I didnt mind, but sometimes I wanted to be quiet, but I didnt want to tell her to go.

So just play it by ear, remember its not going to last forever.etc.

I think I would draw the line at "visitors/family" using the bathroom, overcrowding the room unless they are quiet and taking the other persons chair etc.

Best of luck to you.

 

[krcit]

My mom is currently in a rehab after 12 weeks in the hospital. She was in ICU for the first 3 so no roommate. The next 3 weeks she had a few different ones. They were all nice but one was extremely loud, just a loud talker, lol. One had a ton of visitors but she was a aweetheart and had ovarian cancer so it didn't bother us. I visited Mom every day so I would talk to all of them. My mom was(is) bed ridden so she didn't use the bathroom or get in anyone's way, lol. After 6 weeks they tried to put her in rehab but rehab couldn't take care of her so they sent her back ot the hospital and she had a private room for the next 6 weeks

 

[NikitaZee]

Thanks for the helpful replies I wouldn't have thought of air freshener (ugh) or headphones. Great ideas. I am wondering if I will be able to use my Droid? For phone calls or for playing around with? I guess I should call and find out. I hope I am on the window side!

 

[mhsjax]

All I can say is thank God that the hospitals that My Dr's use are all private rooms. I could never share a room with someone else. I did that as a teenager, I won't do it now.

 

[krcit]

Thanks for the helpful replies I wouldn't have thought of air freshener (ugh) or headphones. Great ideas. I am wondering if I will be able to use my Droid? For phone calls or for playing around with? I guess I should call and find out. I hope I am on the window side!

Ask! If there isn't anyone in the room, ask them for the window. We did this with my mom and they were happy to oblige.

 

[momto2girls]

All I can say is thank God that the hospitals that My Dr's use are all private rooms. I could never share a room with someone else. I did that as a teenager, I won't do it now.

That's what I was thinking!

 

[Imzadi]

Thanks for the helpful replies I wouldn't have thought of air freshener (ugh) or headphones. Great ideas. I am wondering if I will be able to use my Droid? For phone calls or for playing around with? I guess I should call and find out. I hope I am on the window side!

You can use the headphones, even if you don't "use" the headphones, if you know what I mean. If you end up with a noisy yakker, you can put on the headphones even if you want silence, and pretend to be listening to audio books or something.

 

[ajk912]

Well 2 years ago I had 7 operations and I had some real "interesting" room mates

ICU - Best, you get all the attention and no room mates
Radiation room - quarantined in there with no visitors except staff for a day

lst room mate after my coma - cursed all the time, had diverticulitis, in the bathroom alot, sorry as her famiy never visited her, coughed so much they moved her out.

2nd room mate- almost died in a car accident, broke all 4 limbs and had to have her jaw wired shut. She asked me about staples, I felt so bad I didnt eat once as she couldnt eat and kept smelling my food. I told ds to take it in the hall etc. She was in so much pain and had a central line put in bedside 4 nurses had to move her on a board to get her out of the bed and into a chair. Poor thing.

3rd room mate - only spoke creole, stayed a day

4th room mate - had a concussion, had a colostomy bag she kept pulling off driving the nurses crazy. couldnt really verbalize well. Family barely came to see her. Even her son had the nerve to use the bathroom. The sign says..for patients only

5th room mate - I call her the diva queen. Knew someone who worked in the hosp. so the staff was nice to her. Had to have her fuzzy pink bathrobe after back surgery. Cried alot. Complained about everything. She went home in 2 days. I was in there a week then. The one night I noticed after I fell asleep that she had them shut the door, I am claustrophobic, so I didnt like that at all, but the nurses were being really noisy in the hall. I was by the window so some light came in. I was not happy about that for sure.

6th room mate - broke both her legs, kept the curtain closed alot. Couldnt get up to use the bathroom, yeah for me!! Complained when I was crying in pain that it was bothering her etc. Said this to her dh, but I heard her. She got moved to rehab so I got the room to myself, yeah!

Another time I hd a lady kept popping into my room. I guess we both were alone. She thought I had an ortho problem too but I told her I had cancer. She was always coming in and talking. Sometimes I didnt mind, but sometimes I wanted to be quiet, but I didnt want to tell her to go.

So just play it by ear, remember its not going to last forever.etc.

I think I would draw the line at "visitors/family" using the bathroom, overcrowding the room unless they are quiet and taking the other persons chair etc.

Best of luck to you.

What's the big deal about using the bathroom? My 10 year old daughter has been in the hospital several times, and I always used the bathroom in her room. I'd spend all day with her so she wasn't alone, and I really only left to go get food. The nearest public bathroom (that I remember) is on the ground floor near the cafeteria and gift shop, I can't imagine going all the way down there to use the bathroom.

 

[LexiC123]

All I can say is thank God that the hospitals that My Dr's use are all private rooms. I could never share a room with someone else. I did that as a teenager, I won't do it now.

Wow...really? I've visited people in dozens of hospitals in the NY area, and have never once seen any of them in a private room.

The one exception was the time my Mom was in isolation because of the MRSA she contracted...contracted while she was hospitalized for something else entirely, I might add.

Also, I work in HR and have yet to come across a group insurance plan that would cover hospitalization in a private room. If that's part of your insurance plan, that's a wonderful benefit to have.

 

[happygirl]

I wouldn't care if my roomie kept the sheet pulled, I'm there to heal not make friends lol