Nobody really wants to be in the hospital, especially not you, the patient. Even the employees would probably rather be somewhere else, relaxing, than at work. Whether your stay comes unexpectedly or is long-planned, and whether you are the patient or accompanying a loved one, it is likely you will have the occasion to spend a night at the hospital at some point. A little behind-the-scenes knowledge can empower you to feel less fear, frustration, and pain, and to make sense of the apparent chaos going on around you. You can avoid hassles, and you may even be able to decrease the length of your stay.

What to Bring to the Hospital (and What Not to Bring)

If you have the luxury of planning your hospital stay in advance, you should make certain to bring a list of all the medications you take at home, including medication name, dosage (milligram amount), and number taken daily. In fact, if you take a lot of medications at home, it is good to carry around a list of them just in case you need it in an emergency, and keep it updated. You should also be able to provide a list of medications to which you are allergic, if any. You will be asked for your compete medical and surgical history, so if it is too extensive to memorize, a list of prior illnesses and hospitalizations written on a piece of paper or card can be very helpful.

Though you may need insurance cards and documents when you come into the hospital, there are very few personal items you will need while staying on a hospital floor. In fact, you will be encouraged to send some items home with a family member, such as any money, jewelry, or other valuables. If no one is available to take them home, you may keep them in the hospital safe, or sign a waiver that states that the hospital is not responsible if they are lost.

In general you should not bring your home medications to the hospital, but rather a list of them. Since the staff cannot know for certain that the medications in the bottles are what you say they are, hospitals prefer to send you medicines from their own pharmacy. If you don’t have a list of home medications, you can bring the bottles to the admitting nurse, allow her to document them, and then send them home with a family member. Only in the case that you take a very rare drug (that is essential to your survival) might the staff ask you to keep your home medicine there, just until the hospital pharmacy is able to order that drug for you.

You can keep your glasses, dentures, hearing aid, and watch with you if you need them for your comfort, but be careful with them. If you must leave your room without an item of value to have a procedure done, give it to your nurse to lock up until you return. Never leave a pair of glasses, dentures, or a hearing aid on a food tray! It may be picked up without your knowledge and be lost forever in the cafeteria garbage before you know it’s missing.