Patients paying for TV service in the hospital

Fiona59 · Sep 17, 2009

Yup up here in Canada, there is a fee for the TV.

I guess our attitude is if you're sick enough to be in hospital keeping up to date on the Young & the Restless should be the least of your worries.

86toronado, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2009

I guess our attitude is if you're sick enough to be in hospital keeping up to date on the Young & the Restless should be the least of your worries.

:chuckle - Funny!

I've worked at three hospitals in my area, two charge, one doesn't, but all you get there are basic channels, and they come in fuzzy. However, at the hospital I work at now you don't get charged if you are ICU, which seems to disagree with what Fiona had to say. I guess we Americans have our priorities all backwards!

zamboni · Sep 17, 2009

Yup up here in Canada, there is a fee for the TV.
I guess our attitude is if you're sick enough to be in hospital keeping up to date on the Young & the Restless should be the least of your worries.

I can sorta see what you're saying. But one of my buddies was recently readmitted for a post-op infection and was in for 6 days. He wasn't critical or unresponsive. A usually very active guy (one of my geocaching friends). What is a patient supposed to do for 6 days, waiting for the ABX to do their thing?

Lovely_RN, MSN · Sep 17, 2009

I've been hospitalized for the birth of each of my three children and each time TV and telephone service had to be paid for. I had each child in a different hospital, in a different town or state, and it was always the same. I thought it was typical.

ayla2004, ASN, RN · Sep 17, 2009

in the uk in my hospital and in many more a private company has installed tv/phone over bed combo. pt pay to use the phone and for tv/internets services over 65 get it half price under 16 no charge for tv. we do have a day room with a tv and a coin pay phone and allow the use of mobiles.

nrsang97, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2009

Mind if I ask what country you are in? The others that expressed this as normal seem to be from Australia. I really wouldn't mind if it was the norm. I just hate being the only one in my area that does this. Patients just seem to feel we are trying to nickle and dime them.

I am in the USA.

allnurses Guide · Sep 17, 2009

I haven't heard of it for years. When they remodeled our ER, they put TVs in all the rooms except the 2 major trauma rooms.

In the 80's, when I worked at Denver General, they used to charge for TV, except on Bronco Sundays. The auxillary went around and turned on every TV so you could watch the Bronco game for free, then in the evening they'd go around and turn them off again (unless you had paid).

Gotta love those priorities!:chuckle

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Sep 17, 2009

Every hospital where I had a clinical charged for TV service, though one showed PBS for free. I thought it was petty. Charge for cable or movies, but not for over-the-air stations. Hospital can be very dull places for patients; why not watch TV?

Fiona59 · Sep 18, 2009

I can sorta see what you're saying. But one of my buddies was recently readmitted for a post-op infection and was in for 6 days. He wasn't critical or unresponsive. A usually very active guy (one of my geocaching friends). What is a patient supposed to do for 6 days, waiting for the ABX to do their thing?

More than likely up here he would have been hospitalized for 2-3 days and the rest of his course would have been treated via our outpatients IV clinic.