TO INCREASE THE ODDS OF A GOOD HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE:
- Check infection rates at local hospitals before surgery.
Go to www.LeapFrogGroup.org to check
hospital performances on
patient safety, high risk procedures, and intensive care.
- Pick a medical team that will involve you in decisions
about your care and respect your capacity to make
those decisions.
- Make clear to the staff you want to be treated with patient respect and dignity.
Among 1,200 recently hospitalized people surveyed by Consumer Reports,
29% said they rarely received respect from the medical staff. Those patients were
2 1/2 times more likely to experience a hospital-acquired infection, a wrong
diagnosis, an adverse drug reaction, or a prescribing mistake.
Respectful treatment includes:
Doctors minimizing use of medical jargon or explaining it
Staffers introducing themselves before doing anything else
Doctors and staff listening to your concerns, answering questions, honoring your
wishes
Medical teams acknowledging mistakes and treating you like a person
If a patient doesn't think the staff is listening or his wishes aren't
being met, he'll hesitate to ask questions, point out mistakes, or communicate
in ways that could improve his situation.
"The safest hospitals," according to a group of Harvard Medical School doctors and
researchers as reported in Academic Medicine (journal), "share core values of
transparency, accountability, and mutual respect."
"Every day almost 2,000 people on average pick up an infection in the hospital and
about 1,100 preventable drug errors occur. Hospital medical errors are linked to
440,000 deaths annually."
The greatest danger for a patient in the hospital is NOT
infection or drug error.
It's REMAINING SILENT!
Patient (or advocate) engagement
has been nicknamed
"the blockbuster drug of the century."
IF YOU'RE A PATIENT IN A HOSPITAL:
- Let a nurse know the extent of your pain.
- Find out what tests and procedures are for.
- Ask about drug side effects and interactions.
- Be a person to the staff, not a diagnosis. Talk about your family or personal details
about your life.
- Invite doctors to have a seat and look at them in the eye to initiate direct
eye contact away from an electronic device or clipboard.
eye contact away from an electronic device or clipboard.
- Bring an advocate with you (family member, friend, health care proxy,
health care manager) to make sure you're comfortable, to get information
from the doctor written down, to help you make decisions, to speak for you
if you aren't able. The advocate should meet the head nurse, attending physician,
therapist, and aide.
- Have an advocate with you when the most hospital errors occur (shift changes
and care transitions).
- Keep a journal and pen or e-device for questions and notes.
- Make a list of questions for the doctor when he makes his rounds.
- Ask your questions but try not to alienate the doctor or staff.
- Ask a doctor to repeat himself if you don't understand.
- If you don't see your doctor or nurse wash his/her hands, make a respectful request
that he does so. Gloves don't necessarily stop the spread of infection.
Many thanks to my friend Al West for passing this article along to me!
