Speaker: Barbara Gaynor, Nurse Advocate, teaches how to have a safe hospital stay.
List of Advocate websites
AdvoConnection www.advocennection.com
Aging Life Care Association (ALCA) www.aginglifecare.org
Health Advocate X www.healthadvocatex.org
Greater National Advocates (GNA) www.gnanow.org
National Association for Healthcare Advocates
www.nahac.com
Patient Advocate Foundation www.patientadvocate.org
National Patient Advocate Foundation
www.npaf.org
Barbara Gaynor BSN RN LNC BCPA Braddock Consulting & Advocacy LLC Barbara@braddockconsultingadvocacy.com https://braddockconsultingadvocacy.com Phone: 513-250-0617
Top 10 Take-Aways
A Safe & Sound Hospital Stay: How to Get the Care You Want for the People You Love
1. Download your free hospital checklists at TheCarePartnerProject.org. Take these to the hospital. o Share The Care Partner Project with family and friends! TheCarePartnerProject.org.
o Join The Care Partner Project on Facebook to keep up with good tips!
2. Bring someone with you – a Care Partner – for any hospital stay and doctor appointments! Patients forget most of what they hear (normal!). Extra eyes, ears, and minds make a big difference. Be a Care Partner to friends and loved ones!
3. Take notes. Record conversations with doctors. (Politely, ask. but “red flag” if doc refuses!)
4. Health care is complicated. Ask your questions. Ask your medical providers to explain things to you in
“everyday” terms. You should not have to learn their medical terms.
5. Germs are everywhere!
o Makesureeveryonewashestheirhandsbeforetouchinganypatient.Speakupiftheydon’t.
o Bring antimicrobial wipes to clean high-touch surfaces: bed rails, call buttons, door knobs, faucets,
toilet levers, bedside tables, IV poles, wheelchairs, cell phones, TV remote, etc.
6. If you feel you or your loved one is “going downhill” and no one seems to understand your worry or urgency: dial “O” on the hospital landline: and ask for a “Rapid Response Team”.
7. Sudden/new onset of confusion can signal infection, not dementia. Ask for tests to know for sure!
8. You can have a great surgeon operating in a not-so-safe hospital. Know how your hospital is rated!
HospitalSafeyScore.org, HospitalCompare.gov.
9. For diagnoses and recommended surgery, ALWAYS get a 2nd opinion -- ALWAYS from an independent source – not from a referral from your doctor. Doctors who know each other tend not to question colleagues’ advice.
10. Know your medications and how to take them. Medication errors return more people to the hospital than just about anything else, followed by hospital infections that take hold after discharge. Your Care Partner Project checklists will be a quick guide for preventing med errors and infection.