Hospital roommate etiquette

[kidzmom3]

most hospitals will not allow you to spray anything in the air because of respiratory problems.

 

[Disney Doll]

Watch the air freshener sprays. Check with your roomie first to make sure they don't have any asthma or respiratory issues.

Don't let your visitors use the bathroom in a semi-private room. IT's one thing if you're in a private roomand your family uses your bathroom but the bathroom in a semi-private room is someone else's besides just yours.

If your roommate is troublesome, ask to be moved. Its not mean. You have just as much right to have a peaceful stay so you can heal as the next guy.

Try and keep your area neat. It makes life a lot easier for the nurse of he/she isn't knocking down tissues and books and straws and all the other ephemera people collect at their bedside.

 

[aprilgail2]

Not in the hospital my mom was in or that I have been in. I knew everyone of my mom's roommate's names and reason they were in In one case I even heard her blood counts. It was virtually impossible to not overhear the Drs and nurses when they spoke to the patient.

I agree---plus when the Dr's walk in they always says "hi Mrs. whatever" so you know your roomamates first and last name. You head every single thing anyone says to your roommates without even wanting to! While we were visiting my mom we ll heard everything the Dr and nurses were saying to her room mate!

Private = one patient/bed; semi-private = two patients/beds (semi means half). Then there are quad rooms, and possibly still wards. I've been in various hospitals as either a patient or a visitor, and the only one I've ever seen with just private rooms is Celebration Health.

When a friend of mine gve birth the whole maternity floor was full so they put them in this common room type thing- there were SIX of them in it ! She couldn't wait to get the heck out of there!

 

[krcit]

I agree---plus when the Dr's walk in they always says "hi Mrs. whatever" so you know your roomamates first and last name. You head every single thing anyone says to your roommates without even wanting to! While we were visiting my mom we ll heard everything the Dr and nurses were saying to her room mate!



When a friend of mine gve birth the whole maternity floor was full so they put them in this common room type thing- there were SIX of them in it ! She couldn't wait to get the heck out of there!

Was that at Winthrop? My friend delivered in a room like that with her coat as a pillow because they were so crowded She says she can still see the horrified face of the poor guy across from her who saw everything

 

[Swan4Me]

Wow- there are only private rooms at all the private
hospitals here ( I guess the charity one shares)!!!!

 

[NikitaZee]

Was that at Winthrop? My friend delivered in a room like that with her coat as a pillow because they were so crowded She says she can still see the horrified face of the poor guy across from her who saw everything

Funny that you mention Winthrop. My first child was born at Long Island Jewish, and they put me in a room with 3 other people at 3 am because there was no labor room available. That only lasted an hour or so, thank goodness - I was trying to stay quiet thru my contractions and just couldn't. Those poor people in the room with me - I'm sure they remember it as well! A friend of mine gave birth at Winthrop and had a similar experience, only for much longer.

 

[laurie31]

I am shocked to hear about the number of places that still have semi-private rooms for patients on floors.

At the hospital where I work, we did away with the last of them back in 1993! (I remember because the remodel was the year I got married - lol)
Our ICU beds are not private, but we make all visitors leave when the doctors round so they can't overhear what's being said about other patients. However, new ICUs are being built even now, and will be open next year. They have all private rooms, so no longer will visitors have to leave during rounds and shift change.

 

[aprilgail2]

Was that at Winthrop? My friend delivered in a room like that with her coat as a pillow because they were so crowded She says she can still see the horrified face of the poor guy across from her who saw everything

No it was in good sam!

 

[tlbwriter]

It's possible to abide by HIPAA regulations and have more than one patient in a room.

It would be difficult, though. Nurses are taught to confirm the patient's name every time they do anything, and not to rely on the bracelet. Whenever I've been in the hospital, all the staff has said something along the lines of "So, you're Mrs Jones and you're here to have your foo removed, is that right?" It would take some extra care not to do that.

Private = one patient/bed; semi-private = two patients/beds (semi means half). Then there are quad rooms, and possibly still wards. I've been in various hospitals as either a patient or a visitor, and the only one I've ever seen with just private rooms is Celebration Health.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply I didn't understand what a semi private room is. I know what it is, I just think it's a silly name. I've also been in various hospitals as a patient or visitor, in different states, and haven't seen a "semi but really completely not" private room since I was hospitalized in the early 1970s. I assume they tend to be older hospitals - is anyone building hospitals with semi private rooms today?