Hello all
I had a public hospital shared / mixed gender ward when I had my mastectomy + surgery last November. At first I had my own ICU nurse sitting next to me as there was no bed for me in intensive care. I was then in the cardio ward due to complications where the care was excellent and I was so sick I didn't really notice who was next to me but I am well aware of the discomfort that can be felt when in a mixed ward. I then moved to a two bed room with a gentleman who was recovering from stomach/bowel surgery. It wasn't ideal but I did my best at managing the bathroom sharing and he didn't have noisy visitors (I think it was during post covid restrictions with less visitors). I would prefer a non mixed ward but the care was good and I am grateful in Australia that we have such a good public health system.
It would however be a lot more challenging if the person/people that you shared with were disrespectful or overly noisy.
I have also had varied experiences with my elderly Mum who had a private room in a private hospital with one other lady who had lots of noisy visitors and also had the tv up loud all the time; she has also been in a large public hospital in a shared mixed room.
