Hospital Waiting Rooms

I hate hospital waiting rooms – they’re full of sick people and there’s no privacy!

You get to the hospital and walk into the waiting room, and you know that as soon as you enter everyone looks at you and thinks ‘I wonder what’s wrong with her.’ Come on. You know you do it too when you see someone else enter the room … or when you’re looking around the room to search for somewhere to sit and you think – who looks least sick?

Then there are always a few people who break the unwritten

waiting room ‘etiquette’ rules – which I believe should be written down and enforced … such as.

1) If you’re going to use your mobile, please do it in the hallway or at least speak softly. There’s no need for the rest of the waiting room to hear about your whole medical history.

2) If you’re going to bring children into the waiting room, monitor them. It’s NOT OK for them to jump up and down on the sofas or run and scream all around the room.

3) If you’re going to use a personal media device, use headphones! I’m surprised by the number of people who actually listen to their music or watch their TV programs either on such a high volume that the person sitting next to them can clearly hear what’s playing or without any headphones at all!

4) Don’t jump up and run to look into the doctor’s office whenever the door opens. Sometimes the nurse has to come in and out to get papers or other things. The second or two that the door remains open is not an invitation for you to peer into the room. Obviously the doctor is not ready to see you yet. I’m sure you’ll know when it’s your turn. In the meantime, sit down!

… and finally,

5) Please keep your personal conversations at a reasonable volume. There are people in the waiting room who are genuinely sick or may be very nervous/scared about having to see the doctor. Hearing endless, loud conversations between people shows a complete lack of consideration. Come on people – show some respect!

So yes, I dread any time I have to spend in the hospital waiting room. I just try and keep my head down and read a book until I hear my name called … and pretty much avoid inhaling to stop myself from catching anything that may be going around.