Tip #8 For The Best Hospital Care: Be Nice ~ Insider Tips on How to Get the BEST Medical Care in the Hospital ~

Today we continue our series on how to get the best hospital care--this post is pretty much common sense but you would be surprised at how easy it is to have The Golden Rule disappear out the window in crisis.  The purpose of this series however is for you to learn how to get the BEST hospital care, and if I didn't mention this than I would be remiss in achieving this goal.  


Please be nice is the FIRST & strongest piece of advice I gave my hospitalized family member AND all other members of my family.  So they were nice and things went a lot better (nurses gave quick assistance with a smile & physicians spent longer time in the room).  Take this advice to heart--if you do nothing else, follow this tip!


Tip #8:  Be Nice:  One of my Mom's best friends always said: "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."  This REALLY applies in the hospital setting.  I realize that when your are sick you don't feel much like "making nice" and when you are worried about your family you "just want answers." But the reality of the situation is that medical personnel are just that--people! 

Every person wants to be treated with courtesy and you WILL get better & more responsive care if you are kind to the nurses/physicians/techs/cleaning persons/administrative assistants/social workers/dietary staff.  

I know (from being on the patient side of things) that some staff members don't return the favor & this may not seem fair.  To be honest, I had to sometimes ACTIVELY tell myself not to snap at people last week as I sat with my sick family member.  I kept reminding myself of the following key point:  most staff members are not actively trying to be rude--they are stressed, they are understaffed & they are trying to please a lot of different people at once.  By surprising them by being nice, they will look forward to coming into your room--this translates into more attentive care.

With regards to the nursing staff & techs--one last thought.  Please remember not to treat them like they are your servant & remember that you are not their only patient.  Don't "speak down to them."  If you need something within your own reach & you are well enough than get it (*without doing anything you were told NOT to do by the nurse/doc*), than do it for yourself. 

• Please don't be like a patient I saw the other night who had the staff running in and out of the room trying to please her requests.  The evening culminated in her asking me to comb her hair & get her skin cream for her even though both items were on the tray in front of her & she was more than capable to do so herself.  I had to sit down & talk to her about the importance of bundling her requests & asking only for things that she cannot do herself so the staff could do their job for all the other patients on the floor.  After the explanation she seemed to understand & the staff enjoyed caring for her much more!  

That said, there are limits to this suggestion. If you believe that someone is actually actively being harmful to your or your family members than ABSOLUTELY you should stop them firmly & ask to talk to the nurse manager or patient care advocate immediately.  If its an issue with a doctor you can "ask for a second opinion."  Just no matter how angry you are, take a deep breath & ask nicely--things will get fixed a lot faster.

Coming Up Next Time on Medical System Tuesday: 

• Tip #9 For The Best Hospital Care:  Pay Attention ~ Insider Tips on How to Get the BEST Medical Care in the Hospital ~

Coming Up This Week:

• BOOK REVIEW:  "29 Gifts!"
• SuperImmunity for Kids ~Part 2~!
• Practical Stuff:  Kitchen Tools That Help & Products I Like!!

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.  Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site.  By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.

TIP #3: Key Question to Ask the Doctor in the Hospital (Part 2 of 5 on "How To Get The BEST Medical Care: Insider Tips From A Doc!")

Today we are continuing in the series on my "insider" tips on how to get the best medical care in the hospital.  I hope that the last post on Tip #1: Be A Teammate & Tip #2: Be Concise & Organized made sense and was helpful to you!  


Two of the biggest problems I found last week when being on the patient side of things was that non-medical people need to know:

1.  what questions to ask to understand what is really going on (today's post)
2. what things to tell the doctor about themselves to get the best care (BE PREPARED) (tomorrow's post!)

Lets face it.  Some docs are not very good explaining things to patients in layman's terms.  Remember, we M.D.'s have spent so many years studying that we have become an expert in diseases rather than people. I think that things are getting better these days since more focus in our medical education has been on how to improve the doctor-patient relationship.  

Until the doctor-patient relationship is perfected, my advice is to give your doctor a roadmap of questions so they can translate their often brilliant medical skills into layman's data for you to understand enough to be a true teammate for healing.  


Ask us these questions (and follow my advice from the last post on being CONCISE & ORGANIZED to get the most out of each conversation with the doc.)  


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The MOST important point is to always repeat back to the doctor what you think you understand AND write it down!!--I'll give you an example on how to do that at the end of this post.  Here we go!
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Key Questions To Ask The Doctor:

                     

#1:  If it isn't what you think it is, what else could it be?

#2:  If this was your mother/your father/your child who would you send them to see?  (this was a key question for my family last week because we were in a hospital initially that I wasn't familiar with & my family member needed surgery.  I asked this question to the ER doc QUIETLY & he helped us find the BEST surgeon in the facility).

#3:  When you say that "we have a good chance" what does that mean?  What percentage of patients survive or are cured with this procedure/treatment/etc? (SO important particularly when dealing with a terminal disease or a serious, life-threatening procedure)


#4:  Why do you think this medication is necessary & what side effects does it have?  (piece of advice--many docs will discontinue some non-critical meds immediately if they anticipate or get push-back from the family (to avoid conflict.)  The meds may actually be very helpful--for example, stool softeners/laxatives/pain medications.  I encourage you to follow what they recommend after asking WHY).


#6:  If you REALLY don't want to do something that the doctor recommends ask them SPECIFICALLY what the consequences of refusing the med or procedure will be and why they think it is important? 

#7:  Here are a few more excellent questions from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ).  They call these the "Top Ten Questions to Ask Your Doctor". Some of these are more applicable in the outpatient setting but they are helpful!  Check them (and AHRQ) out!


Example of Conversation that uses the "team" approach and helps the doc communicate better:  
(I put this together using diseases from a reader's comments & my own experiences with patients--obviously this isn't what actually happened!)  
Patient: Doc I was wondering if it isn't pneumonia than what else could it be?
Doctor:  Well it could be any number of things but I do think it is pneumonia
Patient:  Doc I know that you have years of experience, could you please give me the name of another disease that looks like pneumonia but isn't pneumonia?
Doc:  Well it could be congestive heart failure, but I don't think that is likely.
Patient (repeating back):  So what I hear you saying is that you think it is pneumonia but another disease that can look like this is congestive heart failure?
Doc:  Yes, that is correct.
Patient:  Hmmm well doc I think I forgot to mention that a few years back I saw a heart doctor that said my heart wasn't very good (the patient in this example doesn't have the proper written history I mention in Tip #4 (tomorrow's post).  As you can see, this info sheet would have helped them get a lot better care from the beginning)
Doc:  Really, I didn't see that on your history?!
Patient:  Yes, I'm sorry I forgot to mention that in the chaos of the emergency room
Doc:  Well this changes things a bit.  Let me examine the other data knowing this new information and get back to you later this afternoon.
Patient:  Great.  I really want to feel better and it doesn't seem like the treatment is working.  I appreciate you looking into this.


Hope this is helpful!!

Next Time:  Tip #4:  Key Things You Need to Know About Yourself To Tell The Docs:  How to Make A Medical Info Sheet!! 

Coming Up AFTER Thanksgiving:

• SuperImmunity Foods for KIDS (Calling All PARENTS!)
• RECIPES & Ideas: Snacks!  YUMMY & Portable Plant-Based Snack Food--all sugar-free, gluten-free & without adding oil or fat!!

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.  Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site.  By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.

How To Get The BEST Medical Care: Insider Tips From A Doc! Part 1: In the Hospital!

If you ever expect to be in the hospital or expect to have a family member in the hospital than I strongly encourage you to read this series of posts & email them to your family & friends.  I'm not writing about food or nutrition or weight loss here but this post IS about HEALTH.  I'm writing this post on hospitals instead of my planned "outpatient tips" because I had a family member in the hospital last week and the whole experience made me realize how confusing the hospital is to everyone but us healthcare providers!!


Before I get to far into this post I want to say two things.

First, if you are one of my doctor/nurse/ancillary staff readers, please feel free to add any other "insider" tips to the comments to be of service to other readers.


Second, when I say, "how to get the BEST medical care" I am NOT saying that we are not trying our best to care for you!!  I am just letting you know a few simple ways to allow your doctors & nurses (and everyone else who cares for you) to perform to the best of their abilities.  At our best we can treat you more effectively & provide you with care beyond our usual high standard.


I planned to make this a single post at first but there is SO much information to share about how to navigate the hospital system that I'm breaking this up in to FIVE posts. As a side note--I don't particularly like the way this all works, but its the system we currently have & I want you to all get the best out of it!

Here are Tips #1 & #2 to get the BEST medical care during a hospital stay: 

Tip #1: Be a teammate:  The only information about your history that we know is what you tell us.  Be an active participant in your care--this is a team effort.  It may not seem that way because since we docs do have definite opinions after spending >12 years in school/training.  But this is your body & you need to take responsibility as well.  


Ask questions (See below on how to organize these questions to get the MOST data).  Understand what is going on and why different tests are being done.  ASK the KEY questions I list in TIP #3 (next time).  The most important thing is to be prepared, organized & concise (see my points below).  Write things down. THIS IS A TEAM EFFORT!!


Tip #2:  Be concise & be organized:  
The key to all hospital communication is "keep it short."   


How can you interact with physicians to get the best care AND get a good understanding of what is going on?:


On admission:  

• Bring the Meds, Allergies & Past Medical History documents I suggest (in tomorrow's post) & have the doc/staff make a copy.  Say that all the background information they need is on those sheets.
• If you have time en route to the hospital (& you or your family member is able to do so): jot down a quick timeline of all the events that led to you needing to go to the hospital. 
• Example:  Monday my stomach started hurting.  It was a stabbing pain in the left side of my belly.  Tuesday I began to vomit dark material.  Wednesday I fell because I was lightheaded and then we came to the hospital

In the hospital:

• Pick ONE spokesperson for the family.  This person is the point person for the family & will communicate all information to other family members.  Try to have this person be the only one who speaks during conversations with the doc.  The spokesperson can be YOU if you are the patient & want to be the one asking the questions.
• Put together a master list of all the questions you & your family have for the doctor. **Make sure you ask the KEY questions I list in tomorrow's post if they are relevant to your situation.** 
• After writing out all you can, prioritize them.  What do you need to know IMMEDIATELY?  What do you need to know eventually?  What do you need to know before the patient leaves? 
• Then go through the list & edit it again making EACH questions as short as possible.  
• If there are questions on there about patient care, ask your nurse (once again briefly) whether you should ask the nurse about these questions or the doctor.  
• If there are questions about what happens when you get home, save them for the social worker at first & if he/she doesn't have the answer, ask your doctor the next time you see them.   
• Pick the HIGH PRIORITY questions to ask the doctor when they see you in their morning "rounds." Give these questions to your spokesperson (this may be YOU if you are the patient!)
•  If you have a complaint, share it after you get the first two key questions done or your entire conversation with the doc will be about that & you will be wasting important data-gathering time.

Important FYI: The doctors will visit all their patients in the morning usually between 6am-10am.  These visits are called "rounds" or "rounding."  If they are a surgeon it will be earlier. If they are in a teaching hospital, the resident will come in early.  If its a community hospital, expect between 8-10am. If a family member wants to ask questions then make sure they are bedside with the patient during these times.


Within a short time period, we docs have to see all our patients & then focus on our sickest ones.  Sometimes we have to attend to our sickest folks first, delaying rounding on everyone else.  This is the way it works. Maybe someday this will change, but this is how the system runs now. 


Do not expect a doc to be able to have a prolonged conversation in the morning.


If you are stable, you may not see the doc again that day.  This may seem strange & honestly, its not really our preference (we'd prefer to see patients more often but it just isn't possible with our workload).  Just know that we are continuing to monitor you throughout the day and remember that everything is a balance between all our patients.  


If your/your family member's condition is serious or the patient is in the ICU or in Rehab, ask for a "family meeting" to be scheduled with the doc to provide a thorough discussion of what is going on with the patient with the whole family present.


Next Post:  How To Get The BEST Medical Care: Insider Tips From A Doc! Tips #3 &4: Key Question to Ask the Doctor in the Hospital & Key Things You Need to Know About Yourself!! (Part 2 of 5)


Coming Up AFTER Thanksgiving:

• SuperImmunity Foods for KIDS (Calling All PARENTS!)
• RECIPES & Ideas: Snacks!  YUMMY & Portable Plant-Based Snack Food--all sugar-free, gluten-free & without adding oil or fat!!

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.  Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site.  By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.