You - as a patient - often have time to sleep unlike in your daily life. And the hospital is often going to wake you up nonetheless: It is, generally, more important to take your vitals than it is to allow you uninterrupted sleep.
They also need to look out for safety. You have a bunch of patients who are feeling poorly. Some aren't quite sober due to pain medications. All in an unfamiliar setting. A bit of light makes it safer to move around at night if you should need to. Sure, a patient can control lights, but not everyone will be able to. In some areas, you are sharing a room, too.
All that said: For my last hospital stay, the room got as dark as I wanted at night - but I'm not sure that would have been the same during the summer (I can read outside at night during the summer).
Hospitals are really there for downside mitigation and acute care, not necessarily for “recovery”. If you take that perspective, it makes a lot more sense why the lights, beeps, vital checks, loud talking in the hallway, etc all conspire to ruin your sleep. Ultimately, getting healthy enough to be discharged and getting back home is when/how you’ll fully heal.
Source: Spent a few nights in hospital a week ago and came home covered in bruises and sleep deprived —- but very alive and ready to recover!
I always bring a sleep mask and ear plugs with me to the hospital. It confuses me that they don't hand them out! Sleep is essential for healing. I have often had nurses in hospitals tell me to sleep, but I've never had a nurse offer me ear plugs.
