Phenomenology of the Ward Part I

About a month ago I was admitted into hospital. I will not disclose the illness here, but what interested me was the phenomenology of the hospital, which I shall give here, at least in brief.


I got to the hospital early in the morning and was rushed to AAU (Acute Assessments Unit) , where I lay for about five hours, seen by a couple of good physicians, one of which told me I would moved to a ward soon – again the ward and its name protect the hospital and myself.

What interested me was that I was taken to the ward in the dead of night – why I don’t know, and then move to another ward. And this is what interested me. The physicians were good, but what interested me was interaction between the patients, as it is patients one usually talks to as patients, more than the nurses or physicians. This is not to cast dispersions on health care professionals, simply that it is something that philosophers have ignored. When I have worked out how to hide the identity of these individuals I will talk more about it. For the moment I wish to talk about a patient’s day. I was there for five days or so. I will take a weekday as an example.

A patient’s day is spatio-temporally divided, almost like a monk’s.



07:00 Wake up. One must be upright, show consciousness or you woken, albeit gently by the nurses.

07:30 Tablets and bath. If the tablets are not taken then they are removed, which is a sensible precaution, one wouldn’t want another patient taking them.

08:30 (approx) Breakfast. Also at this point you must order the food for the next day.

11:00 Newspapers, and at half past 11, lunch, bizarrely.

About 13:00 the consultant does their rounds. If there are any tests to be done they are done now. The staff are kind.

14:00- 15:00 Visitors hour. After this very little happens, the nurses check your Obs, i.e. O2 sats, heart rate and so on. You talk to the patients may be. Depending on your condition you may be allowed some freedom to walk around But essentially nothing happens until:

17:30 Dinner. 

19:00 When one retires to bed. But you cannot sleep, no one can. The more abled-bodied patients are wide awake talking to the others until 21:00 as the hand over to the night shift begins. Many cannot sleep, and depending on their illness, won’t sleep. I saw a patient with Parkinson’s get up and fall down 3 times, I had to catch him. Which is difficult for a man with a stick. Make not mistake I do not complain, the nurses are busy but it is frightening. And then the next day begins.