Getting out Alive

A Guide to Surviving Hospital

Michael Alexander

Contents

Title Page

Introduction

PART I: Before You Go to Hospital

Expectations

Sheep

Risk factors

Know your body

Allergies versus side effects

Know your symptoms

Record keeping

The GP versus the ER

PART II: Navigating the Emergency Room

Triage

Things to do when in the Emergency Room

Things not to do when in the Emergency Room

Basic tests

An ECG (or Electrocardiogram)

Urine check

Getting ahead

PART III: The Inpatient

Error versus complications

Common errors and how to help reduce them

Medication Error

New medicines

Mistaken identity

Surgical error

Pain

Infection

Mobility means staying alive

Mobility exercises

Preventing falls

Who’s who

Discharge

Post hospital care

Conclusion

Also by

Copyright

About the Publisher

Introduction

Whether you hail from deepest Africa or the bright lights of New York, it is likely that at some stage of your life you will fall ill or be injured and find yourself admitted to a healthcare facility. It may be a tiny, overcrowded clinic in the slums, or it may be a highly prestigious hospital paid for by private medical insurance. Whatever the place, there are three definitive factors in deciding whether you make it out or not: your nurse, your doctor and you.

I have more than eighteen years of nursing experience behind me and I can confidently say I’d rather have a caring, knowledgeable, hardworking nurse practitioner in a busy clinic than be treated by an overconfident doctor working in an over-managed hospital full of unpractical and sometimes pointless protocols.

During my years as a nurse, I’ve worked in dozens of environments, and in most settings imaginable. From the Emergency Room to the neonatal ward, intensive care, and the psychiatric ward, I’ve seen the full spectrum of what really goes on in your local hospital. Fortunately it’s mainly good stuff: fantastic hardworking staff perform life-saving work, even in overcrowded and understaffed conditions.

Unfortunately, there’s no denying that sometimes things do go wrong. Often it is fate – it’s meant to be – but there are times when tragedies could have been prevented.

I want to share with you some ways in which you can improve your chances of coming out of hospital alive. In this guide you will find easy to understand, short-and-sweet advice on staying safe and being proactive during your care.

This book is designed to make your hospital experience as fast, smooth and comfortable as possible for both you and the medical staff treating you. Some of the things mentioned in this book might seem obvious or even overkill, but that’s because staying healthy and avoiding complications often is a matter of common sense. I hope you will be able to see this by the end, and take practical steps to help yourself.

By the end of this book, you will have an understanding of how health professionals approach illness and illness prevention, and of what we can and can’t achieve. This knowledge, I believe, can be just the motivation we need to make positive changes in our lives.