Entering a hospital can be confusing, overwhelming or even scary, for any visitor. Whether you are the patient or are visiting someone there, navigating your way through a hospital stay can bring added pressure and confusion. Here are a few pointers to help you prepare for a hospital stay or when visiting a loved one:
- Be proactive about a potential hospital stay if you have chronic health conditions or are elderly and enter as prepared as possible.
- Understand that there will be many new faces and that you most likely will see a new treatment team of doctors and nurses at the hospital that are different from your outpatient care
- Ask for help at the front desk. Don’t assume you know where you are going. Patient rooms can change and hospital areas often shift around.
- If there are hospital volunteers around, don’t be afraid to ask for an escort to where you need to go. This can put you at ease about getting lost.
- Prepare your list of symptoms and medical history to be able to share to medical staff.
- Have a list of your outpatient doctors and medical staff handy so that you can pass along their contact information to the hospital This can help them easily coordinate your care and have the most up to date information.
- Bring your medication bottles with The hospital can then see exactly what you are taking, instead of just from a list from the pharmacy or doctor’s office.
- Write down a list of questions and keep record of their answers as y u receive them.
- Ask for your discharge plan to be printed out so you have it in hand.
