The Essential Hospital Handbook: How to Be an Effective Partner in a Loved One's Care
Hospitalization is often as dismaying and frightening for family members as it is for the patient. And despite a heartfelt desire to understand what is happening and to comfort a sick or injured loved one, too often relatives and friends feel helpless and marginalized by the hospital system. This valuable book is the first to assist families and friends of adult patients to navigate the unfamiliar and intimidating territory of the hospital. It spells out in the clearest terms how a family can...
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Hospitalization is often as dismaying and frightening for family members as it is for the patient. And despite a heartfelt desire to understand what is happening and to comfort a sick or injured loved one, too often relatives and friends feel helpless and marginalized by the hospital system. This valuable book is the first to assist families and friends of adult patients to navigate the unfamiliar and intimidating territory of the hospital. It spells out in the clearest terms how a family can form a partnership with medical providers to ensure the best patient care possible. Patrick Conlon’s inspiration for the book was the sudden, frightening hospitalization of his longtime partner, Jim, and his personal struggle to develop a useful role for himself as a caregiver. Here he provides the handbook he wishes he’d had when Jim was admitted to the hospital. Conlon offers encouragement, proven strategies, and straightforward advice—all with the goal of empowering others to become successful care partners at the bedside of their loved ones. Special features of the book:--Simple dos and don’ts to help you help your loved one and interact with hospital professionals --Handy tear-out checklists to fill in when consulting a surgeon, preparing for discharge, making a complaint, updating family and friends, and planning important meetings--Definitions of hospital jargon—terms, abbreviations, euphemisms, an acronyms --Sidebars with interesting facts: Can cell phones interfere with sensitive medical equipment? Why don’t British doctors wear neckties? What’s the average length of stay in an ICU?--Easy-to-use caregiver’s chart and diary
Acknowledgments ixIntroduction 11 The Hospital Nation of the Wounded 72 Emergency Hurry Up and Wait 183 The Living Will Saying Yes or No to Medical Intervention 414 Surgery Cutting Through the Confusion 585 Intensive Care Life on the Edge 806 Recovery (I) The Ward, the Care Team, and the Plan 1087 Recovery (II) Charts, Meds, Tests, Codes, and Other Hospital Mysteries 1368 Recovery (III) Partnering with the Care Team and Planning for Home 1649 Hospice Dying with Dignity 194A Hospital Lexicon 215What Does That Mean? Terms for Medical Conditions, Common Hospital Procedures, and Other Health-Related Matters 215Staff Slang: What You Might Overhear 281Recommended Resources 319Index 333
