1) The document provides 12 steps for patients to take to have a successful hospital stay and get home as soon as possible, such as keeping someone with you, knowing your medical history and medications, writing down questions for doctors, drinking water, and ensuring all staff wash their hands. 2) Additional tips include ordering pizza for hospital staff to improve care, using kind words even if annoyed, and limiting personal items to keep rooms organized for staff. 3) The main goal is for patients to be proactive, informed, and considerate of overworked hospital staff to facilitate a quick recovery.

1. How To Survive A Hospital Stay - In 12 Easy Steps!
Simple pro-active health measures will do a lot. Eat right, exercise; limit your intake of simple
carbohydrates...all that good tasting stuff that is killing you slowly but surely. Drink filtered water,
8 oz for every 10 pounds of weight. If you do have to have a hospital stay, here are 12 Steps
that can get you home as soon as possible.
1. Keep somebody with you during your stay as much as possible. Most hospitals can provide a
cot of some kind. Assure the staff that your family member or friend is there to help. (The
nurses will be grateful). Be sure they follow the guidelines set out by the doctors and nurses.
2. Know your health history and that of your immediate blood relatives. Big things, like diabetes,
heart attacks etc. and little things, allergy to bee stings, lanolin etc.
3. Know your medications: name, amount, route (mouth, injection etc.), with/without food, time
you take it normally. DON'T say, "You know, doc, that little green pill." Pharmaceutical
manufacturers make the same pill in different colors for quality control, so the color isn’t a good
identifier for any other reason.
As healthcare professionals, we encourage you to be proactive in your own healthcare, knowing
your medications are a giant step in that direction. Just write it on a piece of paper and carry it in
your wallet.
The most vital reason for knowing your medications and your allergies is to avoid taking the
wrong ones during your hospital stay. Avoid taking the wrong meds, even when handed to you
by a nurse, by asking what you are being given and why. Maybe it’s a new prescription, better
to be sure. It’s your body, your health, your life and ultimately your responsibility for what goes
into your mouth. You have permission to ask questions and be given answers. A loved one
being present might have more energy to push for the information.
When a friend of mine was admitted to the hospital, she had a big orange bracelet placed on
her wrist stating she had an allergy to iodine. She had a procedure done that required a sterile
field and before she knew it she was swabbed with iodine. She went into anaphylactic shock
and almost died.
Know what drugs, medications or elements (tape, iodine etc.) you're allergic to. Many
medications have similar sounding names. Be sure you know exactly which one(s) you are
allergic to and how to spell them...even if you can't pronounce the name.
4. Write down questions you or your family have on a piece of paper. Ask what time the doctor
makes his rounds and don't be surprised if it's 3:00 AM. Keep in mind the doctor has a lot of
patients to see and he will bless you if you keep him moving by having your questions organized
and direct. Keep a diary of your questions and any answers you get from doctors or nurses. It's
allowed and OK. Might even keep us on our toes a bit.
5. Order pizza for each shift, if you can. (Any pizza place near any hospital will delivery. The
hospitals are their best clients.) This really works! Every shift is busy and/or short staffed and
meals are often skipped. So be generous, order plenty of pizza to go around. It's worth the

2. investment. Their heart will soften toward you. If you every come back, they’ll remember and
give you star treatment from the start. When discharged, give a box of good candy.
6. Drinks lots of water, unless you are on a water restriction. It keeps everything flowing and
aids in recovery. Ask for a bedside commode, if you can't easily get to the bathroom. Another
reason you want a loved one with you.
7. Unless your doctor has told you otherwise, get up and walking as soon as possible to gain
strength and endurance. Use the spirometer (if you get one, you'll know what it is...USE IT) It
will help you get back your strength and endurance quickly.
8. Even though the staff annoys you, use kind words. It pays off in extra attention.
9. Know who you are talking to. Today’s hospital setting has everybody dressing. When I was
a floor nurse in the hospital I found a young janitor dressed in scrubs giving advice to a patient.
The patient didn't know she was there to mop the floor and asked her a nursing question and
the janitor was answering it, giving all the wrong advice. Ask: are you the nurse on duty? Also,
check their identification badge, their position will be identified.
10. Keep your family at bay. One or two visitors at a time, please. When the room gets loaded
down with friends and family, staff (nurses, therapists, doctors) cannot do their job. We
appreciate and honor your privacy but we are not allowed to ask family to leave the room so we
can perform our duties. It’s helpful if you ask your visitors to momentarily step out of the room.
Thank you.
11. It's best if you keep personal belongings at home. I know it's nice to have your own pillow
and blanket, maybe a picture or four of the kids and grand kids. The rooms are small and
crowded anyway and often items get broken or that favorite pillow gets pulled off with a quick
linen change and accidentally tossed into the hospital laundry, never to be found again. I
remember tripping over a cozy comforter that was too big for the patient's bed and hung over
onto the floor. My knees landed on a cold, hard floor and in addition to losing several days of
work, it hurt! Besides, if all the flat surfaces are covered with picture frames, there no place for
us to work! I tried suspending supplies for a dressing change in midair once but it never worked.
12. Save the most important one for last. Be SURE every staff person that touches you, or your
clothing, or your water pitcher, or any equipment in the room WASHES THEIR HANDS FIRST!
The number one complication to a quick recovery and going home is noscomial
infections...infections gotten in the hospital. The number one way to prevent noscomial
infections...WASHING OF THE HANDS.
Most hospitals are under staffed and that puts an incredible strain on everyone. However, things
are as things are. My intention is to give you a few pointers to make your stay as easy as
possible.
For now, stay full of health and vitality.
Frances Gollahon, RN
Life Purpose Facilitator - Coach