Mama is home from the hospital. I am very grateful for talented doctors, nurse practitioners, medical technicians and nurses aides. They excel at diagnosis and treatment. They need more work on communication with family members.
Families need a consumer's guide - a simple information sheet that describes how the hospital will care for their patient. This should be distributed at registration and should begin something like this:
"Welcome to Wellcare Hospital. Your patient will be in the Intensive Care Unit, in Room 16. When his condition improves, he will be moved to the general ward. The doctor with overall responsibility for your patient in Intensive Care is Dr. Smith. You can reach Dr. Smith at this phone number 555-555-5555 between the hours of 3:00pm and 5:00pm. Other doctors on the ICU team are Drs. Rosenburg, Estes, and Jones. These doctors will visit your patient daily to monitor his condition. Dr. Smith will examine your patient during morning rounds and will give you an updated report at that time or, later, by phone.
"Teams of nurses, working on three eight-hour shifts, will also care for your patient. Nurses manage medications, bathing, feeding, and overall comfort. Go to the nurses station to find out which nurses are assigned to your patient during each shift. Do not hesitate to address questions to nurses or to report changes you have observed in the patient's condition."
Our family had not spent much time in hospitals and did not know what to expect. It was a struggle to find out basic information like "When can we talk to the doctor? How will you know that she is well enough to go home?" We would have been more relaxed and confident if we had known, from the beginning, how hospital care is organized.
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