Nobody would want to stay in a 19th-century hospital, where flies and rats proliferated, surgery was done without anesthesia (not yet invented), and the spread of disease wasn’t understood.
Yet a hospital stay today can result in a condition called delirium, characterized by hallucination, confusion, physical debilitation, and life-threatening psychosis.
“…research has linked delirium to a greater risk of falls, an increased probability of developing dementia and an accelerated death rate.”
Now, we’re learning that delirium can be brought on by hospital stays – even short and relatively simple stays, and affecting relatively young and healthy people. It can arise from something as simple as treatment for a urinary tract infection. According to this article, originally published in Kaiser Health News and reprinted in Next Avenue,
“Many cases are triggered by the care patients receive — especially large doses of anti-anxiety drugs and narcotics to which the elderly are sensitive — or the environments of hospitals themselves: busy, noisy, brightly lit places where sleep is constantly disrupted and staff changes frequently.”
My Mother’s Experience
When Mom had to overnight in hospital recently, the cleaning crew came in at 2:30 a.m. to strip the second bed, clean the bathroom, and mop the floor. Mom, 90, is a light sleeper anyway, and couldn’t go back to sleep that night. Couldn’t they have waited until morning? Another time, nurses stood outside her room, jabbering loudly about their personal lives. I realize this is their job, and they are people, too, but if you can’t be more compassionate or professional, go to work at a lumber yard or something.
Mom has had to stay in hospitals three times in the past year (she’s fine, thanks). Each time, she came home exhausted, needing several days to feel normal again.
Historic Breach of Trust
I’m not singling out Kaiser. My own experience with Loma Linda University Medical Center was similar. Unless you’re a one-percenter, this is the environment you get. We already knew hospitals are torture chambers where a healthy limb can be severed, an incurable disease contracted, or one’s financial health ruined. Now there’s a risk you’ll go crazy.
Hospitals are trying, though. Now that they understand how stupid they are, they’re teaching staff thusly:
“…(hospitals) are trying to soften the environment by shutting off lights in patients’ rooms at night, installing large clocks and minimizing noisy alarms…making sure patients’ sleep-wake cycles were preserved, that they had their eyeglasses and hearing aids and that were not dehydrated — reduced delirium by 53 percent. These simple fixes had an added benefit: They cut the rate of falls among hospitalized patients by 62 percent.”
For the love of God, how hard was that to figure out? It isn’t brain surgery, folks.
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Lynne,
I experienced this first-hand after a lumbar spinal fusion when I was 57. I had terrifying, evil visual and audio hallucinations while I was in the hospital. When I got home, I only had audio hallucinations, but they were all heavenly sounds (choirs, trumpets, harps, etc.). It’s hard for me to even talk about because it was a time of living insanity, which thankfully passed. It took me several weeks to get over all the symptoms that began after this surgery. I commented to the hospital on the patient review that delirium should be mandatory patient education and that there is a possibility of this happening. It would have been of great consolation to me at the time I was going through it, to know that it was induced and that I wasn’t losing my mind! I kept a journal during the whole process and hope to write about it some day.
Oh Kathy what a nightmare! I definitely do hope that you write about it. And thank you for speaking up to the hospital. I hope that made a difference in their protocols.
I Dislike Hospital for all the reasons stated. The lack of respect is off the chart . Rest is tge last thing a patient gets and in one of the most important in the healing process.
Absolutely, Annie. They even had a sign on my mother’s hospital room door saying, “Quiet, please. Healing in progress.” Too bad they didn’t respect their own best intentions.
Spot on as always, Lynne.
Thanks, Sis.
Oh Lynne, as a health care provider (retired), I wish that what you cite here was not true but I have to agree. Of course, hospitals serve their purpose in providing lifesaving treatments but the basics such as preserving sleep patterns and providing a quiet environment are sorely lacking. I’ve been on both sides and have experienced those disruptions that can drive one crazy…Good that you raise some awareness here. Patients need advocates to deal with all the technologies and chaos of our current hospital environment.
Kathy, you would know from having dedicated your career to the wellbeing of others. On the one hand, it’s a job, but on the other, it’s more than that. I have sympathy for the people who work there every day, but they are in a special environment. Just like teachers, who are in a critically sensitive profession, health care pros have to accept a higher level of expectations. If they are unwilling, they should go into a different line of work. Yes on the advocating. I am glad to be able to help Mom with that.
A friend and I were just talking about this subject! My lovely neighbor had a recent hospital stay and the change in her was fast and frightening. She’s in rehab right now, much better but still clicking out of focus. This explains why my father still has hallucination memories from one of his hospital stays years ago. Thanks for sharing this important information!
Early last month, my father was placed in a convalescent hospital for several days for observation. I went back to my home town to help my mother during this time (I thought!) but soon after arrival Dad fell, so I ended up “sleeping” three nights in a row in a reclining chair at the foot of my his hospital bed as the staff had no way to keep him safe during the night. (Acute care hospitals have “watchers,” but long term care facilities do not, and no one is allowed to restrain patients any more–probably good but presents a challenge!) I took these shifts so my mother could get some rest! Dad has Altzheimers and obviously was wildly confused whenever he awoke. As I was only able to rest, not truly sleep, I had an up close and in person view of what you talk about in this blog entry: the noise just outside the door from loudly talking staff and the over-head lights flipping on at all hours–oh my. So glad we could get him out of there. What now? That’s the immediate question with regards to Dad, but over the long haul, good luck to us all! No surprise to me that medical issues come FROM hospitalization!
Your post brought back memories both of my past hospital stays and those of my father. Fortunately, I was able to stand up for myself and have my doctor request no nighttime interruptions (taking my vitals, etc.). I, too, am a light sleeper and found it very difficult to go back to sleep after being disturbed.
My father, unfortunately, had dementia so it was difficult for him to process what was going on. We would get calls from him in the middle of the night telling us that he had been kidnapped and was being held hostage in Mexico. He was so distressed and it was very hard for us to calm him down. We finally had to insist that the nighttime staff leave him alone so he could sleep through the night. It broke my heart that he felt so vulnerable and so fearful.
Janis, I’m sorry for his suffering, and for yours. I didn’t realize we could insist on them leaving us the hell alone for precious sleep. I’m going to remember that. Thank you.
This is so true! And trying to make sense of all that happens, like cleaning at 2:30 am or blood draws at 4:00am, while over-medicated on painkillers is impossible. It’s the screwed up sleep that’s the worst, I think. And the beds are impossible to get comfortable in for any length of time.
Maybe they should all be patients for a couple of days–might increase the empathy and compassion.
Yes, Robin, the nature of their “improvements” is pathetic and laughable. Didn’t they already know a sick person needs sleep, for ex.? Aarrgghh.