More hospital tips I've thought of! My mom told me that she wishes when you go into the hospital that they just tell you things to expect and what you should/should not do while you're there. So this is part two of my public service announcement.
1. Don't talk while your nurse/doctor is listening to your heart or lungs with their stethoscope.
2. When they lean over you to listen, don't cough or exhale in their face. That's very rude.
3. Get off your phone when they come in the room to talk to you.
4. Ask your visitors to scram for a minute if things get busy with you or your roommate and lots of doctors and/or other staff members are attending to either of you.
5. For most hospitals, nurses have 30 minutes to an hour before and after your medications are due to actually administer them. So if at home you normally take your Prilosec at 8:00 am sharp and it's 8:04 am, please refrain from putting on your call light and demanding your Prilosec. They will get there; something important may have come up or they didn't know your personal time schedule. For example, at Carle, I have an hour before and after the med is due to give it. So if you take your blood pressure pill at 9:00 pm sharp every night and I have a 10:00 pm medication and time allows it, I'll bring both meds at 9:30 pm, or closer to 10:00 pm.
6. Don't bring babies or small children to the hospital. People at the hospital are sick with some gross stuff and bringing a baby around that, even if it's not in the same room as your loved one, is just not a great idea.
7. Don't walk barefoot on the floor. Some of the grossest things in the world have touched that floor.
8. Don't ever, ever, ever lay on the floor. I've seen some family member lay on the floor and I want to throw up in my mouth. So. Gross.
9. If you are diabetic, eat at the normal meal times and don't eat until they check your blood sugar. It screws up the reading and the amount of insulin you'll need. Even if you don't take insulin at home, most diabetics need supplemental insulin while in the hospital.
10. Don't ask to get ready for the day or get ready to go to bed at shift change. It is beyond inconvenient for the staff. They will rush to get through it for you because they have to be in report at a certain time and clock out at a certain time. Wait until the on-coming staff has gotten there and introduced themselves. They won't be rushing and will have the time to make sure you get everything you need and get situated.
11. Go to bed at a normal time (8-11pm) so you can get to sleep and if you have a roommate, so they can sleep.
12. Always be conscious of your roommate. So if you have 5 visitors, so do they. If you like to fall asleep to watching TV, they have to as well. If you like to sleep with the light on, they have to now too. If you have your ringtone on, they have to hear it. If you have an alert on for every single time you get a text message, they have to hear that too.
13. Don't ask staff about other patient's condition/situations, or ask about your roommate. They legally can't tell you anything.
14. Don't be crazy mad if you don't see your doctor every single day, especially if you're there for a long time. Most doctors have Physician Assistants (PA) and Nurse Practitioners (NP) that round on their patients daily. These support staff members daily update the MD if they don't have the time to come around themselves. Doctors are absurdly, absurdly busy so these NPs and PAs are essential to them. Doctors also make it a priority to see their most critical patients first too. So don't get mad if it's 9:00 am and you haven't seen your doctor yet. They might not plan to see you until 2:00 pm and then they get called into an emergent surgery or case at 12:45 pm. There are so many things going on with their schedule and so many unpredictable things that staff cannot tell you when a doctor will be around that day, if they will be there at all. It sucks, but it's something that can't be changed or fixed. The staff hates it too, but that's just the way it is.
15. If a staff member (doctor, nurse, tech, etc) did something really awesome for you or were really helpful and went beyond your expectations, write an applause card or make sure the floor manager know how great they did. Every hospital has some way of recognizing staff for a job well done, go the extra mile for them and recognize that.
16. If you hate your nurse, request not to have that nurse again. Ask for to speak to the floor manager and make the request. Sometimes people just don't mesh well and we don't want patients to be uncomfortable all day or feel like their needs aren't being met. In most cases, accommodations can be made.
17. When you know you're going to be discharged, make sure you have your transportation all figured out. And if your ride is only available during their lunch break at work, you MUST tell staff that the night before. The doctors have to put a bunch of orders in the computer and the nurse has to complete a bunch of paperwork so if you have specific time issues, you have to give the nurse ample time to prepare. He/she might have 3 discharges and orders get to them all at the same time in addition to all of the individual care for their 5 patients. Discharges always happen later than patients expect. Plan on eating lunch there. When a doctor says that you'll be discharged tomorrow, count on it being tomorrow afternoon. Then if you go home earlier, you are pleasantly surprised :-)
18. If you take a lot of meds on a specific time schedule at home, chances are it won't be the same when you're in the hospital. (And honestly, it doesn't really matter that much unless it's Coumadin or something if the times are off by a few hours.) If doctors put in your meds as three times a day, it defaults to certain times, usually 8:00 am, 12:00 or 1:00 pm, and 6:00 pm. So if at home you take yours at 7:00 am, 11:00 am, and 5:00 pm, please don't yell at your nurse and say that all your meds are completely messed up. I promise it's not my fault!
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