Tips for a Hospital Stay; Number One, Keep Your Door Closed!

If you or anyone you know and love should end up in a hospital bed, for an extended period of time, here are a few tips to help make your stay more comfortable.

First and foremost: when you are in your room, close your door! There are many reasons to keep your door shut, both night and day. The most important one is that it is so much quieter; you and your visitors are allowed peace and privacy. With your door closed, you are able to escape from the hustle and bustle that is going on around you; and at night, you can actually get some sleep. The other critical reason for keeping your door closed, is that unless you WANT to be a fish in a fish bowl, you will protect yourself, not only from the other patients’ stares as they are doing their laps, but from all of the other patients’ visitors as well, not to mention the plethora of  hospital employees that continually roam the halls.

As you may or may not know, patients are encouraged to get daily exercise by walking around the nurses' station. Here are some of the things that I saw on my daily jaunts: there were several very elderly people, some falling out of chairs, others’ lying in their beds with their heads dangling and their mouths’ open; almost always alone. It was very depressing and sad. Then there were the screamers, the one's that screamed, everytime that you walked by. Yes, I know I screamed when I had my bone marrow biopsy, but my door WAS closed! One of my favorite, or should I say not so favorite views, was the guy that had his bed sitting straight up; he had his shirt off, his covers down and he thought that he was “all that, and then some”, it was disconcerting: he would look you straight in the eye and grin when you walked by. Rather, creepy, if you ask me! Sometimes I would witness a patient with a full room of visitors, other times I witnessed patients hobbling to the bathroom, all alone, with their rear ends sticking out of their hospital gowns. All of these visions are what I would consider invasions of privacy, so unless you wish to become part of the entertainment; I would suggest closing your door. You can even train the hospital staff to close it behind them when they leave; it just takes a few reminders per shift.

Second important tip is to be really nice to the hospital staff. Remember, you are at their mercy! And being nice to the entire hospital staff may get you two egg croissants when you ask for them, and an extra clean room. If you are really nice to the nurses, your chances of them answering your call button promptly, are greatly increased!

My third tip, which really ranks pretty high up there, would be items of comfort; having your own pillow, slippers, socks,  robe and jammies is priceless. You will be much more comfortable in your own clothing and resting your head on your own pillow. Ear plugs and an eye mask are essential; Desert Regional Hospital actually gives them to their patients.

Other items of comfort might include Charmin toilet paper, (have you ever used hospital toilet paper before?), soft Kleenex, Chap Stick and lotion, a hairbrush or comb,  snacks that are available for when you are hungry and an electric hot pot that you can either make tea or coffee, or heat up that cold soup from lunch when you are ready to eat it. A notebook and pen are also nice to have so that you can jot down questions when you think of them. A large folder or envelope is also helpful in keeping all of the papers that you will be receiving, organized. A bag that holds all of these things and hangs on the side of your bed is a total bonus!

Of course, having a laptop computer or tablet is also helpful, although you may drive yourself crazy researching your illness and treatment plan; but it is nice to have the ability to stay connected to loved ones and to watch a movie, or play a game, late at night when you cannot sleep.

 Remember that ice is available for eating and ice packs, and when you have a visitor, remember that there are other sick patients in your vicinity; remind your guests to speak softly and NEVER bring Yahtzee as entertainment: the rolling dice are totally loud and annoying! 

Being sick is no picnic and having a few items of comfort available, and maintaining as much peace, privacy and quiet as possible, will help to make your hospital stay a bit more tolerable.