Ask questions. The more you know about your treatment plan, the less stressed you may feel.
Point out anything that doesn’t seem right. If you think something is wrong with your medication schedule or your IV, or if anything in your room is beeping, tell your nurse. Something may need to be repaired. Also, though generally very competent, hospital employees may make mistakes just like all people do. It never hurts to ask.
Tell your doctor about all the symptoms you are experiencing as early as possible. If you wait until discharge to tell him you’ve been having chest pains, you might wind up staying an extra day for a cardiology consult.
Know that death is listed as a possible risk on every consent form. The hospital wants to protect itself from litigation no matter what happens. It doesn’t mean death is very likely to occur.
Call your nurse for pain medication early, before the pain gets too bad. Since she is likely to have several other patients with needs, it may take your nurse awhile to get to your request.
DON’T
Don’t ever smoke in the hospital! The most important reason is that there is an oxygen source in the wall of every room, and oxygen combined with fire causes explosions! There will be a smoking area just outside the hospital door. If you cannot take yourself there and have no family to help you, a nurse aide may take you down, but she is obligated to complete her other duties first. If you cannot travel without an oxygen tank, then you cannot smoke at all, because of the risk of explosion. Also, don’t spend too much time outside smoking, because you might miss tests, medications, or doctor visits, which could lengthen your hospital stay.
Don’t push the buttons on your IV pump or other equipment. You could give yourself a lethal dose of medication if you alter the settings. Also, resist the temptation to keep silencing a beeping pump or to turn it off yourself. Call your nurse instead. If it is beeping, there is a problem. If it isn’t fixed, you may end up with an IV site gone bad and have to be restuck, or you may get behind on your medication schedule and end up having to stay longer to finish the course. Do not unplug yourself from the pump to remove your robe and plug it back in yourself. This leaves you vulnerable to bacteria that might enter the system when it is unplugged.
Don’t expect the technicians who perform your tests to give you immediate results. Technicians are trained to take good pictures, not to read them. Final results must come from radiologists and other doctors, and even your nurse is limited as to what results she knows and can share. Doctors may take a day or two to get back with results.
Don’t expect everyone who enters your room to know your complete medical history. Hospital staff members with limited responsibility to you know little about you. Keep in mind that even your nurse reports to duty only about half an hour before taking patients, so she has a limited amount of time to learn about several patients from the previous shift nurse. Nurses cannot possibly read your entire chart before coming to see you the first time, but if you have the same nurse over a period of days, she will become very familiar with your situation. The person who knows you best is your doctor, and even he needs his notes.
Don’t take any home medicines while in the hospital. They may interact with your hospital medicines, which puts your health in jeopardy.