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If You Are Admitted Into the Hospital, Follow These Tips:
1. Enlist a family member or good friend to act as your advocate. Ask this person to show up on a daily basis and get involved to oversee and monitor your medical care. He or she will act as your eyes and ears while you are in the hospital. More than 150 doctors and nurses I interviewed said this: “Hospital care is in crisis. You must have someone with you at all times in the hospital. Loved ones are patient’s best advocates.” All of these tips can be executed by your advocate.
2. Get a notebook. Record your daily progress, medication names and dosages, procedures, treatments, and medical professionals names and contact info. Take notes on conversations with doctors and nurses. You can ask your advocate to do this for you. You can’t remember everything that is discussed. You are recovering!
3. To prevent medication mistakes. Medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year (Institute of Medicine). Write down your medications and dosages. List what the medication looks like, the shape and color of any pills, the names on the labels of bottles or IV bags. Create a detailed description as medications can look alike and sound alike. Make sure that you recognize the medication when it is administered. If you don’t, ask questions. Be assertive. Also make sure your allergies to medications are in your chart. Repeat this information to your primary nurses and physicians.
4. Meeting with your doctors. You and your advocate must conduct face-to-face interactions with your doctors not only to establish relationships (doctors see so many patients and you want them to put faces with names) but to get a list of medications, treatments and procedures directly from these medical professionals. This way, you can accurately go through a checklist to prevent medical errors. Ask your loved one to join you during doctors’ rounds so he or she can also make a list and help you go through your checklist. It’s handy to have someone there to ask questions you may have forgotten. Have your notebook handy. Prepare questions ahead of time about the your diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.
5. Establish a relationship with your primary nurse. No other nurse will do. Hospital staff dress alike so make sure you know the registered nurse who is responsible for your daily care. Get personal. Show appreciation to your primary nurse. The more good will you express to this professional, the more attention you will receive. And more attention translates to the probability of fewer errors. Your advocate can ask if he or she can help with your care. This also reinforces involvement on the part of family and friends. Doctors and nurses I interviewed all said that if a patient has involved family members, they will get more attention. Have a loved one bring in a few thank you cards for you. Address them to your primary nurse with a note from you about how much you appreciate his or her good care of you.
6. Humanize yourself to your primary nurses and physicians. Think about how many patients these medical professionals see in a year. You want the medical professionals to see you as a human being, not as the “shoulder surgery” in room 209. You want a personal connection. Offer details about yourself, your friends and family, but keep it brief. What do you do for a living? How many children do you have? Do you have animals at home? Ask the nurse or doctor about him or herself. Keep it brief, but find common ground.
7. To prevent the spread of hospital-acquired infectious diseases, among the most virulent are MRSA, C. diff and pneumonia, ask every person who comes in contact with you, including the physicians and nurses, to wash their hands or put on a fresh pair of disposable gloves before touching you. Create a sign that is placed on the wall above your bed that says, “Please wash your hands before touching me.” Place antibacterial gel next to your hospital bed and ask everyone to use it. If you can arrange for a private room, do. It cuts down on the number of people who travel in and out of your hospital room and decreases the spread of disease.
8. To prevent surgery on the wrong body part. Before you enter the operating room, you or your advocate should ask to see the surgeon to go over your name, birthdate, type of surgery, and the correct site on your body to be operated on. If the surgeon is not available, ask to see the anesthesiologist and nurses involved in your case and repeat this same checklist with each one.
9. Holidays, weekends and nights. Medical errors increase at these times. Nurse-to-patient ratios increase and doctors can be away. Ask your advocate to be with you as much as possible or ask him or her to hire a sitter, companion or private duty nurse to fill in.
10. Ask questions. Many people are afraid to question their nurses and doctors. Don’t be. If a medication looks new or different, ask what it is and what it is for. If something seems amiss, or you are surprised by some piece of information such as orders for discharge when you thought you were going to be in the hospital for another two days, ask questions. As long as you are polite and respectful, your request should be met with acceptance. If you don’t understand something, ask questions. This is your health and well being we are talking about. Be assertive.
Martine interviewed over 150 registered nurses, physicians, hospital social workers, psychologists and family members to find out how to empower families to become proactive advocates for their hospitalized loved ones. The results of her efforts and hundreds of hours of research are compiled into her multiple award winning book, Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide To Get Your Loved One Out Alive. Read more about the book at http://criticalconditions.com/
