While you are likely to do an excellent job attempting to rest and heal, sometimes the hospital struggles with their responsibility. The nurse and staff have many patients, many responsibilities, and they don't have all the answers. It takes a long time to get some answers. The staff are humans who make mistakes, have difficult patients to deal with, and some unfortunately, care less than others. Dealing with all of this as a patient can be stressful. Again, a patient's job is to rest and heal, not deal with extra stress.
Therefore, I highly recommend appointing an advocate in advance. It could be a friend. It could be a spouse. It could be an adult child or another family member. Whoever it is, you should have a conversation with them in advance so they clearly understand the expectations.
If you ask the nurse a question, for example, and an hour goes by without an answer, you expect the advocate to go find the nurse and get an update. If your dinner is two hours late, you want your advocate to get you food. If a doctor is talking to you at a hundred miles an hour, your advocate needs to take notes and help ask questions. If a monitor is beeping for thirty minutes, your advocate needs to find someone to check on it. Making sure you get your medicine on time, your blood tests on schedule, getting opportunities to walk, washing and/or bathing, etc. These are the kinds of things you need someone to deal with so you can rest and heal.
Set the expectations very clearly. Don't just say "Hey, can you be my advocate?" That will lead to a misunderstanding. You may want more control or less control. The advocate won't know what you want unless you tell them. Explain various scenarios and make sure they understand and are comfortable fulfilling the responsibility.
It is best when the advocate is by your side, but that isn't completely necessary. The advocate can stay connected by regularly calling the nurse for updates (which you can arrange and grant such permission) and staying in contact with you. The advocate doesn't have to spend all day by your side, but they do need to be engaged and involved.
If your advocate is your husband? I am a guy, so, I am allowed to be frank about this. You need to set your husband straight that he is your defender and completely responsible for your advocacy. In many relationships, especially when involving health care, husbands tend to take the back seat. Be clear about the expectations. And not to be too gender specific.... if your advocate is your wife and she has a similar trait, the same applies. Be very clear.
I remember reading one story of a woman with several kids and the husband abandoning his wife at the hospital so he could focus on the parenting. When he did visit briefly, he brought the kids and they were acting crazy in the room, She expressed great disappointment with her experience and her husband. You don't want to have that kind of experience!
If your spouse can't be your advocate due to parenting responsibilities? Find a friend or another family member to lean on. Don't just assume that your spouse can double-up on parenting responsibilities AND do advocacy. If your spouse can? You should be very grateful. :-) My wife was my advocate even with double parenting responsibilities and I feel I am a very lucky husband to have such an incredible wife.
Having an advocate allows you to play "good cop/bad cop". Nearly all the hospital staff will work hard and do their best. But that sometimes means long delays. The best way to approach this is with a positive attitude and a smile. Sometimes a positive attitude and a smile gets taken advantage of. The squeaky wheel gets the oil, so, the hospital staff may be busy with more difficult patients. Having an advocate allows you to be positive and smiles while the hospital staff can see the advocate as being the heavy. This approach has a better chance of resulting in nicer treatment than if the patient is required to develop an attitude.
So, find an advocate for your hospital visit. Make sure they understand the responsibilities. And then focus on resting and healing.
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