The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us all the extraordinary, exhausting work performed by intensive care unit (ICU) doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals as they try to save extremely ill patients. However, as hard as these dedicated professionals work, staffing issues can put patients at risk. In fact, even before the pandemic, many patients in […]
Archive | Hospital Issues
Tips for Hospital Discharges
You might feel both happy and stressed when doctors decide you (or a loved one) can to go home from the hospital. You may feel joy that you will soon be home in your own bed. But you might worry that you feel too sick to go home. Or you might worry that you cannot […]
Protect Yourself from Superbugs
No one wants to get sicker during a hospital stay. Whether you (or a loved one) are in the hospital for a serious illness or a straight-forward surgery, developing an infection from a dangerous superbug can leave you clinging to life. The bad news: superbugs in hospitals are common and dangerous. And you don’t have […]
What’s a Hospitalist? Do You Need One?
There are over 50,000 hospitalists in the United States, yet chances are you have never even heard the term. What’s a hospitalist? They are doctors, usually internists, who work in hospitals to coordinate and manage the care of hospitalized patients. These “captain of the ship” doctors work with other hospital-based health professionals to make sure […]
What You Need to Know About Pressure Sores
We all know the importance of exercise – it helps us physically and mentally. But do you know the dangers of immobility? Healthy people move throughout the day, even in their sleep. But for some patients, their illness makes it hard for them to move. And when people spend prolonged periods of time in one […]
Do Hospital Policies to Prevent Falls Help or Harm Patients?
No one wants to fall. It can be painful. And embarrassing if you fall in public. But when you’re weak and ill, like many hospital patients, falls can lead to serious health problems. In order to reduce the frequency of falls, hospitals and other health care facilities have fall prevention programs. But do these hospital […]
How to Sleep Better in the Hospital
I think I’m not alone when I say that I’m not fun to be around when I am sleep deprived. Not only am I grumpy, I don’t feel good. As we all know, sleep is important for our bodies and our minds. And it turns out that sleep is very important for physical healing. But […]
Protect Yourself from Hospital Infections
No one wants to go to the hospital, and certainly no one wants to get sicker while they are there. However, since there are germs lurking throughout hospitals, there is actually a pretty good chance a patient could acquire a serious hospital infection. How common are hospital-acquired infections? Common enough that you should care. How […]
The Benefits of Participating in Hospital Rounds
I’ve been shouting this message from my rooftop for years – patients who communicate effectively and actively engage in their care have better outcomes and a reduced risk of medical errors. However, for hospitalized patients, this can be tricky. Ideally, doctors would include patients and/or family members in their daily “rounds” conversations. But, not all […]
How Can Hospitals Reduce Medication Errors?
Clearly, no one wants to get sicker while they are in the hospital. And certainly, no one wants to take a medication that could harm them. It would be easy to assume that your nurse is giving you the right medication at the right time, but unfortunately that is not always the case. Medication errors […]