Hospitals are depressing

[cgymike]

Had to go for a two hour blood test today (glucose tolerance) and the phlebotomists seemed "too cheerful"..I wonder if they had been dipping into some "good drugs" aka narcotics. Anyway it was boring. There I was with my Kindle only getting one bar 3G reception BARELY able to get even JUB forums (major withdrawal). The place smelled antiseptic too typical hospital. I wonder how many cark it in these places. Truly depressing with hospital furniture that has NO STYLE and only sends out message "you are fucked"...the car park was absolutely loaded too.

Are there that many sick people?

Please comment on your local hospital.

I am fucken depressed....

[refujiunderground]

i hear you, man.

the last time i was at a hospital was with my father when he was sick with pneumonia during the summertime. we were in the er. right across from us was this elderly guy who just suffered a stroke and he was in a coma. he wasn't doing too good where he was having problems breathing and eating where they needed to put a feeding tube down his throat. his daughter and some of his family were around him talking about what happened and etc. then the rest of the family came in and they pretty much were told that the guy was on his way out. the doctor said even if he lived, he would never be able to use his right or left side again because he suffered severe brain damage from the bleeding. after the doctor told them that, they started crying and sobbing and etc. then the doctor talked about who was going to decide if let's say he had to be put on life support, who would make the decision to pull the plug and his will and etc. it was depressing. i wanted to get the hell out of there. i was hoping that there would be nobody dying in front of me or whatever. never seen anybody die before in front of me and i hope i don't see it either.

the only thing that bothers me is that the nearest hospital is far as hell away from me. there was irvington general hospital which is like 5 minutes away but they shut that down 10 years ago. all the hospitals are like towns away. if you're having a heart attack or break your leg or something, you're fucked.


another thing that's fucked up too. these hospitals are ruthless as well. if your insurance isn't covered, they will straight up tell you that you can't stay and you have to go home. that's what they did to my father. dude was sick as a dog, coughing up blood and the whole nine. they asked for his insurance card, we waited for about an hour and then the doctors came in and told us that he was good enough to go home. i was looking at her like "you're lying. it's because his insurance isn't good." the day america has universal health care.

[reone]

When we moved back downtown we ended up living literally about two minutes from the hospital that I was born at. I felt like I should go inside just to be back there even though there was no real reason to visit. Anyway, my mom ended up going to the hospital for a bit a few months after we got settled into our new home, so I ended up with a reason to visit. I hated it. The entire atmosphere and seeing the doctors just put me in a bad mood. And the smell bothered me as well.

[Anders123]

I went to a hospital a few times not long ago to visit my mother in Critical Care.

She was surrounded by unconscious patients and the place absolutely wreaked of sadness and heartache.

It was awful, and I hope I never have to go back.

[Hard-up1]

There are usually volunteer groups to help those in hospitals. They are called "pink ladies" in many places, although they are being gradually replaced with less sexist names.

Those people are troopers. They may give some article of comfort to a patient, or an ear to a lonely family member in a dire waiting mode.

Hospitals are inherently sad places to be. God bless those who go in to make them less so.

[Sparky-Sparky-Boom-Boom]

Yeah don't like hospital too you can smell the fear, saddness and death there.

[star-warrior]

I think the biggest problem our local general hospital has is the parking. I live about three and a half miles away from it, so I usually go by car, there isn't a direct bus link.

The phlebotomy department is brilliant now, not like it used to be. A few years ago before they changed it to a ticket on arrival system, you had to wait hours. Now, it's about 10 minutes max. Going in the afternoon helps too.

I used to take mum in as she'd need to visit the ophthalmology dept for her diabetic checkups, and occasionally the phlebotomy dept too. Her eye checks used to take the longest times a couple hours or so. Next was the renal dept, roughly an hour - hour and a half.

I like the renal dept doctors, they really did sympathize with their patients, and above all, when we were they, they explained everything, the silliest questions were answered patiently, and in detail. Mum's condition gradually deteriorated but it helped us all understand that she wasn't getting better. When she finally went, there was a sense of relief that she was no longer suffering.

Its a place where you go when you're poorly. The doctors and nursing staff see many people in different states of distress, and I do suppose it is that which makes them strive to make their patients not dwell on the worse. My mum's daily carers told me that occasionally, the elderly folks they care for die, and when they enter their houses and find them, they have to notify the authorities and they must wait there for the people to come and deal with liasing with the family concerned etc. Many of the old folks they look after are wonderful friends whom they see day in day out, several times a day and they often with medical problems and live by themselves. They say, if you don't stay on the light side of things, then you would surely cry... I don't doubt the surreal atmosphere you find in hospitals are just skirting around healing and death.

[kineticpsi]

I'm one of the freaks that thinks hospitals are cool. I've never experienced anyone dying in a hospital though I have been to the ER and told my grandfather passed away. We went to the room and saw his body. He had already been extibated and the wires were all removed.

I think of hospitals as a positive place where people are helped. I understand that not everyone has that same view and that may be the biggest reason for fear and dislike of hospitals. I think that reaction is completely justified.

[JP.]

What wall color of that hospital? If they used white/muted colors..that could effect/alter patients mood.
I very rare or might never go to hospital but some people dislike over there I think because of how daunting/ sterile the environment is..

[freefall]

When I was in hospital, my best friend never visited me. He said he didn't like hospitals' atmosphere - way too depressing for him. I guess it's natural, not to mention he spent quite some time admitted for severe asthma attacks.
However, seeing the hospital from the eye of a visitor is different from of a paramedic/doctor, and also from of a patient.

Mike, when you say the workers were being 'too cheerful'...there are two things here. One, workers are often desensitised by all the happenings after working in hospitals for a long time. It's natural, like soldiers' coping mechanism toward violence. Two, my lecturer said to me: "Working environments in hospitals are usually grim and depressing. If you stay like that in that kind of atmosphere, you will too become depressed. Thus not many people can stay in this place for long. My tips? Don't be like that. Be cheerful. Be positive. Don't let the atmosphere grasp you."

Thus the 'cheerful expression' you saw.

[Scealle]

I don't really like hospital's environment. But if my friends are sick or sent to a hospital, I would go and visit them without hesitation. Being admitted to the hospital is a pretty scary feeling. I was admitted few months ago due to a high fever caused by mosquito bite. During my time there, I just keep wondering if I would get well since I don't even have any appetite to eat anything. Kinda hard to imagine being a doc/ medic though. They practically have to live in a hospital. But at least they pay well enough to compensate the working environment.

[cgymike]

When I was in hospital, my best friend never visited me. He said he didn't like hospitals' atmosphere - way too depressing for him. I guess it's natural, not to mention he spent quite some time admitted for severe asthma attacks.
However, seeing the hospital from the eye of a visitor is different from of a paramedic/doctor, and also from of a patient.

Mike, when you say the workers were being 'too cheerful'...there are two things here. One, workers are often desensitised by all the happenings after working in hospitals for a long time. It's natural, like soldiers' coping mechanism toward violence. Two, my lecturer said to me: "Working environments in hospitals are usually grim and depressing. If you stay like that in that kind of atmosphere, you will too become depressed. Thus not many people can stay in this place for long. My tips? Don't be like that. Be cheerful. Be positive. Don't let the atmosphere grasp you."

Thus the 'cheerful expression' you saw.

Well I guess they have to work at being cheerful. I don't think I could do that job even the phlebotomist (and that's not the most depressing job in a hospital of course). I guess after the shift or in the break room they all sit around having a laugh about the patients who come in. Not in a nasty way of course. But the women who took my blood did show concern and asked me if "I was OK"...

[quasar]

My local hospital is fine - although I only tend to use Out-Patients and the phlebotomy dept. Our phlebotomists are a cheerful lot too, and the waiting room at the phleb clinic has vampire bats, cartoon draculas and really bad jokes plastered all over the walls - along with facts about blood and what it does.

[Telstra]

The main hospital here is in the middle of the city with limited space, very hard to get a parking spot.
They should locate buildings for sick people away from the city abit !!!

[cgymike]

The main hospital here is in the middle of the city with limited space, very hard to get a parking spot.
They should locate buildings for sick people away from the city abit !!!

Right but the idea is to have it in the cbd so there is good access to transport for those who need it. If they locate it outside the city it may present an unfair burden of access for those who are in greatest need. But this is open to debate on both sides of the issue ...also typically modern facilities have decent sound proofing though noise levels INSIDE could be another matter. As for parking yeah that's a nuisance....

[LeicsDom]

Had to go for a two hour blood test today (glucose tolerance) and the phlebotomists seemed "too cheerful"..I wonder if they had been dipping into some "good drugs" aka narcotics. Anyway it was boring. There I was with my Kindle only getting one bar 3G reception BARELY able to get even JUB forums (major withdrawal). (

I had that test but my GP did it in the surgery. I took a book and the time sped past

[LeicsDom]

another thing that's fucked up too. these hospitals are ruthless as well. if your insurance isn't covered, they will straight up tell you that you can't stay and you have to go home. ......... the day america has universal health care.

So why do so many Americans sneer at out National Health Service? This would never happen over here

[LeicsDom]

There are usually volunteer groups to help those in hospitals. They are called "pink ladies" in many places, although they are being gradually replaced with less sexist names.

Those people are troopers. They may give some article of comfort to a patient, or an ear to a lonely family member in a dire waiting mode.

Hospitals are inherently sad places to be. God bless those who go in to make them less so.

We have something similar. They are called WRVS even though there are some guys who volunteer

[pat grimshaw]

They're like prisons. They make me determined to avoid them at all costs.

Quite a few hospital services are now being supplied in the patients' homes in my country because they know that hospital patients pick up illnesses from other patients and that the patients get so mentally depressed that it worsens their physical condition.

[LeicsDom]

They practically have to live in a hospital. But at least they pay well enough to compensate the working environment.

In my opinion they are never paid enough to do the job they do.
They have to cope with all the emotional upset (as has been seen recently), let alone the mess they have to clear up.

I was in hospital a few years ago and had a wound go septic. The mess was awful and smelled very bad but the staff just got on with cleaning it and redressing it. It couldn't have been pleasant.

I very deliberately tried to stay cheerful and to joke with them. It kept both our spirits up

[LeicsDom]

They're like prisons. They make me determined to avoid them at all costs.

Quite a few hospital services are now being supplied in the patients' homes in my country because they know that hospital patients pick up illnesses from other patients and that the patients get so mentally depressed that it worsens their physical condition.

In the UK more and more services are being offered at the local GP's surgery rather than the office. Recently I even had physiotherapy there