Five life-saving tips to survive a hospital stay

Nov 5 2009

With the numbers of H1N1 (Swine Flu) cases flooding emergency rooms all over the country, you'll want to do everything you can to prevent contracting H1N1 and being subjected to fatal medical errors and infectious diseases if you have to go into the hospital. Martine Ehrenclou, author of the multiple award winning book, Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide To Get Your Loved One Out Alive, offers five life-saving tips to stay safe and free of disease if you have to be in the hospital.

PROTECT YOURSELF AND PLAN AHEAD

5 Tips

If you're sick enough to be a patient in the hospital, then you certainly cannot oversee and monitor your own medical care while you are there. And monitoring your medications, treatments and procedures to prevent medical errors and diseases, has become essential. An average of 195,000 people in the US die each year due to medical errors in hospitals. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/11856.php

1. How to choose the best advocate for you. Your loved one who acts as your advocate will be your watchdog to oversee and monitor your medical care while you are a patient in the hospital. This person should have these qualities:

• proactive
• able to speak up and ask questions in a polite manner
• will get involved
• attentive to details
• organized
• willing to write things down
• willing to do some research

2. Patient Checklist. Ask your advocate to create a patient checklist with your full name, birth date, list of medications and dosages, allergies to medications, current illnesses, current diagnosis, dietary restrictions, primary physician's name and contact information.

This checklist will be placed in your chart and repeated by your advocate each time you are treated by a new medical professional or are transferred to another area of the hospital.

3. Notebook Notes. Ask your advocate to take notes in a notebook on your daily progress, conversations with physicians and primary nurses, medications, treatments and procedures. Notebook Notes will also include medical professionals' names and contact information.

3. Monitoring Your Medications. Medication errors injure 1.5 million people every year.>

Since medication mistakes are the most common medical errors, keeping track of all medications administered to you in the hospital is essential. Ask your advocate to keep an eye on any medication that looks new or different and to ask questions in a polite and respectful manner if something appears out of the ordinary. Repeating your allergies to medications upon entry into the operating room or when meeting a new nurse or physician may feel repetitive but is in fact an important part of keeping you safe and healthy.

Lists of medications and their dosages with descriptions of pills, medication bottles and labels, will be placed in Notebook Notes. Medication names can look alike and sound alike. Ask your advocate to be sure you are receiving the correct medication.

5. A Disease Free Hospital Stay.

• Ask your advocate to make a request of everyone to wash their hands, including the doctors and nurses.
• A sign can be placed on the wall above your bed that asks everyone to wash their hands before touching you.
• A container of antibacterial gel can be placed on your bedside table for everyone to use if your hospital room isn't equipped with one.
• Ask your advocate to ask all the nurses and physicians to wash their hands and wear disposable gloves before touching the patient.
• Ask the physician to swap his/her stethoscope with an alcohol wipe before touching your loved one.
• Consider requesting a private room. If there is no roommate, you will have fewer people traveling into your hospital room and that translates to a lower probability of transferring infection.
• Ask your advocate to tell all your loved ones not to bring in their children. They could spread germs or leave with some.

www.criticalconditions.com