Upon admission to the hospital, while awaiting surgery, I was taken to the waiting room. I chose a double room at Hue International Central Hospital, costing 1.5 million VND per day, hoping for better care and a peaceful rest during my illness. Because the Orthopedic Surgery Department was fully booked, I was temporarily transferred to the Obstetrics Department. Of course, the staff asked for my opinion, but I had no other choice, so I accepted. Actually, at that moment, my main concern was getting the surgery as quickly as possible; the room I was in wasn't the most important thing.

I was quite surprised to find a man in his 50s in the next bed who had been in an accident while helping staff carry heavy objects. He had undergone surgery and was temporarily staying there while waiting to be moved to another room. After my surgery, I was transferred back to this room. Although I was quite sore and exhausted from not eating for over a day and a night, I just wanted to get some sleep, but I have trouble sleeping; even the slightest noise would prevent me from sleeping. The patient next to me seemed more "carefree." He not only slept soundly but also snored very loudly, preventing me from getting a good night's sleep. However, that was nothing compared to the fact that he was on his phone day and night, and his wife, who was with him, was equally addicted to social media. It wouldn't have been a big deal if they had been a little more considerate and kept the volume at a reasonable level so as not to bother the person next to them. Fortunately, around 10 pm they turned off their phones and went to bed, at which point I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Before I could even celebrate the nurse announcing the next morning that he had been moved to a different room, allowing me to finally catch up on sleep after the night before, around midday, the staff informed me they would be moving me back to my ward to return the room to the Obstetrics Department patient.

Upon arriving at this department, I was assigned to share a room with a woman from Lao Bao ( Quang Tri province ) who had come to Hue for treatment of calcification in her arm. Because her family lived far away, they had to accompany her to stay and care for her. Since they lived far away and few people visited, except for doctor's appointments, both the patient and her family spent their time watching movie reviews on their phones. What's particularly annoying is that both of them were "obsessed" with audio, turning the volume up to the maximum, making me incredibly uncomfortable lying next to them. Even worse, it wasn't just during the day; at any time of day, she would watch movie reviews. One day, she watched a movie review from 3 AM until 7 AM, even though she was still awake at midnight with that same obsession. For several days like that, I not only lost sleep but also suffered from stress from the monotonous, boring voice of the AI.

I was so mentally harassed that I couldn't take it anymore and had to ask the doctor to discharge me early, incurring the additional cost of hiring a nurse to care for my wounds at home. My relatives and friends, hearing me recount the harassment I experienced from other patients and their families, asked why I didn't offer gentle feedback. I think if they were considerate, knowing it was a public space, a shared room, and everyone paid the same price, they wouldn't have behaved that way. But these people lacked awareness and disrespect for shared spaces, so any reminders were pointless. For example, they didn't hang their clothes to dry in the bathroom; despite repeated reminders from medical staff, these female patients ignored the rules and even hung them in a very unsightly way. Knowing I had a leg injury and couldn't walk, requiring crutches, and was prone to slipping and falling, they still deliberately showered and spilled water on the bathroom floor. That alone speaks volumes about their character. Therefore, the best solution was to change rooms or request early discharge if possible.

Actually, a lack of awareness in public places is nothing unusual. Few people are conscious of preserving what belongs to everyone. The situation is even more complex in a hospital environment, with its diverse population and age groups. Even though they chose to receive treatment at Hue International Central Hospital – a place with relatively high costs that not everyone can afford – being in a luxurious place with wealthy people doesn't automatically mean their awareness of the environment has improved. As in the cases I just mentioned, even though I sometimes hear them boasting about their big houses and multi-million dollar assets over the phone, their awareness of the shared environment... is still nowhere near the starting point.

HONG TAM

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-polit-xa-hoi/phong-chung-su-dung-rieng-160246.html