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How to stay safe in the hospital
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Hospitals can save your life or take it. I greatly appreciate the marvelous technology available to those who need a bone repaired or a heart vessel bypassed, yet all is not rosy in our nation’s hospitals. There are super-charged bacteria lurking on the doorknobs and phone handsets, and understaffed nursing units can be slow to respond to non-emergent 'emergencies' like pain or diarrhea.
Here are some tips for staying safe in the hospital.
• Make everyone wash their hands
Whether it is a visitor, nurse, doctor or other hospital worker, anyone who is going to touch you or your tubes needs to wash their hands. Don’t be shy. Saying “would you mind just washing you hands before you examine me?” may save you from a serious infection.
• Know what medicines you are taking
You need to know what every pill and every bag of IV medicine is for. Ask your doctors or your nurse and don’t take it if something doesn’t seem right. If you hear “it is for high blood pressure” and you don’t have high blood pressure, refuse to take the medicine until you speak with your doctor. If a new pill appears in your pill cup, don’t put it in your mouth until you know what it is for.
• Know your doctors
In many hospitals you will be visited by an attending physician, several resident physicians, a medical student, various specialists and possibly a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner. Ask each person who comes to examine you what his or her name is, which service they are from and whether they are an attending or a doctor-in-training. Write down what you learn. This knowledge will help you to know who to ask when you have a problem, and how fully to trust the answer.
• Assume nothing
Don’t assume that the very young, anxious appearing doctor knows how to do the procedure she is attempting. Don’t assume that the doctor covering over the weekend knows your full medical history. Don’t assume that your test results were normal just because you haven’t heard the results. Always clarify and ask questions. In the hospital, as in much of life, assumptions can be dangerous.
• Keep someone with you as much as possible
Ideally you should never be alone when you are in the hospital – even at night. Nurses are overworked and may not be able to respond to your needs as quickly as you’d like. And since you may not be feeling your best, it can be helpful to have an advocate to speak out on your behalf.
Staying safe in the hospital requires attention to detail and the courage to speak up for yourself. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or make requests. You are a partner in your own healthcare, and you share in the responsibility of making your hospital stay as safe as possible.
Be well.
Dr. Chiaramonte
www.insightmedicalconsultants.com
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