Nothing strikes fear more in the hearts of brave men and women than being admitted to a hospital. Kings of Industry, Queens of Households, shake with nerves. What should you expect? Do you have to wear a hospital gown? Is the food edible? Will strange people look at parts of me I haven't looked at in years?
Don't fear! I hope to quell the nerves of hospital patients to be. The first step is good preparation.
If your admission to the hospital is a planned one, you and your family can take a few simple steps to make your stay a more comfortable one.
1) Remember to bring your medical insurance cards, driver's license, living will(if you have one) and any other legal papers you have such as a copy of your medical power of attorney.
2) Type out a list of your current home medications and any other information you feel will assist the health care team understand your medical history. Call your primary doctors such as your GP, and let them know you are going to be admitted to the hospital.
3) Pack a suitcase with comfortable clothes. You don't have to wear a hospital gown as long as the nurses and doctors can easily get to the parts of your body they need to examine or work on. After you are over the acute stages of your illness or surgery, the hospital staff will encourage you to get out of bed and walk. It would certainly be a more pleasant experience if your hind end wasn't hanging out for everyone to see. Bring a pair of loose, one size too big, sweatpants, or shorts. Bring a button down, loose shirt with short sleeves, or a big, roomy sweatshirt. Forget the frilly, silky nightgown, and the feathery mules. Remember hospitals are not clean places and your nice nightgown may drag through some type of body fluid.
4) Bring a pair of slip-ons with non-slip soles. Your feet will probably swell after surgery, or from being in bed for a while, and your usual sexy pumps will not fit. Bring your comfy bedroom slippers, as long as the sole isn't worn smooth as glass. Hospital floors tend to be slippery.
5) Reading may be your favorite pastime, but don't expect to be able to concentrate enough to read "War and Peace". A good light magazine, word puzzles, or romance book may do the trick.
6) Hospitals smell of all sorts of things. Happy patients I have known in the past have brought a light scented body spray with them, in a citrus scent. For men, a little Old Spice can do wonders.
7) Think of questions for your doctors before you are admitted. Ask them before you have surgery. Have your family bring in a written list for the doctors. You may feel like a pest but the squeaky wheel truly will get the attention.
8) If you are admitted to a teaching hospital, be aware the doctors travel in huge groups to examine you. You have the right as a patient to ask for just your attending physician and the resident or intern taking care of you to actually examine you. It can be a very scary sight to see twelve young-looking men and women staring at you from above your bed just as you start to wake up.
9) Ask the nurses for the visiting policy and abide by it. Very young children and infants are really not appropriate for visiting with sick adults. Be mindful of your roommates need to rest and recover.
10) Don't use your cell phone in a hospital. Shut it off. The wave length used for cell phones is often the same wave length for heart monitors, vital sign monitors, IV pumps, and other medical equipment. If you use a cell phone in the hospital, you may endanger a patient's life.
You can prepare before your hospital admission to make your stay a more pleasant one. Remember, you are the patient, therefore, YOU are the STAR.
