With the tremendous staffing shortages in healthcare these days, things are bound to get screwed up a time or two. We work too many hours, take care of too many patients, with not enough help. So.. What’s a patient supposed to do to protect themselves?
1. Know and understand your condition and the expected outcome of your treatment. The best place to get that information is from your doctor.
2. Understand what is expected of you regarding your care. Yes, patients are expected to participate in their own recovery. We can do everything under the sun, but if you aren’t compliant on your part.. All our hard work goes right out the window.
3. Make sure that each and every person coming into your room washes their hands and wears gloves before coming near you. And if you are in an isolation room? Make damn sure that every staff member is gowned, gloved, masked appropriately. It’s for your protection as well as everyone else’s.
4. Keep a journal of every staff member who visits you. Record the date/time and the reason for the visit, including any medications administered. Tired of writing? Ask them to “sign in” upon entering your room.
5. Unable to do all that for yourself, because you are too sick? Enlist the help of a trusted friend or family member to stay there with you. Yep.. I said stay. All hospitals have different policies on this but mostly, if your visitor isn’t causing a problem, there is no problem. There might be privacy concerns if you are in a shared room and your visitor is of the opposite sex. Ask if there is a single room available.
6. Encounter a problem with your care or a caregiver that you are having great difficulty resolving? Don’t ask for the charge or head nurse. The charge nurse is merely the more senior nurse on your floor or unit. Ask to speak to the House Supervisor, Nursing Supervisor, or House Officer. This will be someone who is actually in a senior position. They will talk to you as well as the caregiver that you are having a problem with to resolve the situation.
7. Most of all.. Be an informed consumer of the healthcare services which you are receiving. When you are discharged, make sure to get an itemized bill of all the services for which you, or your insurance carrier, are being billed.
8. Last but not least.. Get well soon! And if the hospital mails you a survey or calls you regarding your recent visit, take the time to mention staff members who were especially kind and considerate in providing care.
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