Make the Most of Your Hospital Stay

Making the most of your hospital stay requires you to keep in mind why you are there in the first place. You may be there to heal from an accident, recover from an illness or have some surgery performed on you and then be observed for a time.

These primary reasons for being hospitalized should be your primary focus while you are there. This means that following the directions of your doctors and nurses should be paramount to you. Keeping this in mind, the hospital staff is available to help you while you are there.

It’s a mistake though, to assume someone is always available to answer your call button depressions immediately, every time you press it. Remember there are probably 20 or more other patients on the floor and a minimum of staffing to care for all of you. This doesn’t mean however that the staff should continually ignore your calls.

Neither does this mean it’s okay for you to call the nurse every 5 minutes for every little thing. To minimize the need for pressing the call button, try to request everything you think you’ll need while the nurse is in your room making rounds. Usually before they leave the room for checking IV’s and giving medications, they’ll ask if you need anything. This is the time to make your requests: extra blanket or pillow, water, to see your doctor and the like.

If you feel you are ignored by the hospital staff, don’t be afraid to ask a nurse why this is so. However, you should use a nonjudgmental voice and indirectly phrase the question withholding blame. For example, you could say something like, “You guys must be really busy huh? I’ve been calling for a nurse for 30 minutes. Do you think you have time to get me some ice water?”

Phrasing your discontent this way does not put the staff on the defensive, instead it aligns you with the staff as a pleasant and understanding patient they will want to help. Conversely, constantly voicing your angry disapproval might put off their answering your calls in the future. That said, not many people have a truly intrinsic desire to help crabby people.

As for me, the hospital staff is a constant source of human interaction that helps me cope with being hospitalized, so I don’t limit my interactions to the nursing staff and doctors alone. That said, I also carry on a light hearted banter with the maintenance and cleaning personnel that come in and out of my room. This type of give and take does a good job chasing away in-hospital depression.

Another aspect of being hospitalized where attitude can help is the infamous hospital food situation. Okay, so you suddenly find you’re stuck in the hospital which means you’re at the mercy of that hospital’s cooks and your doctor’s dietary rules. Let me suggest you utilize this time as a learning experience.

Although hospital food may not always taste the greatest, you can get a good idea of proper food portion sizes, and eating it might help you discover your ability to eat foods that are low in saturated fat and prepared with little or no salt. Furthermore, if you realize and accept that your diet does matter in the continuum of your health, you might adjust your diet at home accordingly.

When you’re in the hospital, you may find getting restful sleep to be a difficult proposition. With nurses going in and out of your room at all hours, janitors running floor buffers, loud squeaking wheeled carts moving up and down the halls, cabinet doors and drawers opening and closing and people talking, sleep can be as elusive as a hiding phantom.

I’ve found getting angry over this situation to be counterproductive. I surely can’t relax and sleep if I’m angry, so instead I consciously tell myself that Maintenance to the hospital must be performed, people must talk, and my not being in my own bed at home can’t be helped. If you find yourself in this situation, don’t let yourself get angry either. Instead, try to be understanding and your sleep will come naturally, regardless of nearby noises.

Another way to make the most of your hospital stay is to bring a “Notebook of Strategic Memory” and a pen with you to the hospital. I have found doctor’s names, and their departments impossible to recall without writing them down. That said, there have been many occasions when I wanted to ask the nurse to contact a particular doctor for me only to realize I couldn’t remember his/her name.

The Notebook of Strategic Memory also comes in handy when questions arise and the doctor is not around. I jot the questions down as they arise, then pose them to the doctor at a later time.

You can do everything in a hospital bed. From going to the bathroom, bathing, watching TV, eating and even exercising, the hospital staff can remove every reason why anyone ever needs to get out of bed. I say if you are able, and you have your doctor’s permission, get out of bed and go outside.

Don’t use your hospital stay as an excuse to live in your bed. I used to do this, but I’ve found I get better faster when I get out, regularly, for sun and fresh air. If you are like me, then not only will going out help you physically, it could also improve your attitude which could improve the other aspects of your hospital stay.