Navigating Your Hospital Stay

Topic Overview

Hospitals can be big, confusing places, especially if you've never been a patient in one before.

But by taking the time to learn about how hospitals work and what you can expect, you may be able to lower your stress and concentrate on what's important: feeling better.

Before You Go

There is much you can do ahead of time to make your hospital experience go more smoothly.

  • Choosing a Hospital
  • Choosing a Health Care Provider
  • Understanding Health Insurance
  • Preparing for Your Hospital Stay
  • Preparing Your Child for the Hospital

Learn how to manage stress

  • Stress Management
  • Stress in Children and Teens
  • Stop Negative Thoughts: Choosing a Healthier Way of Thinking
  • Tapping the Power of Optimism

Fill out important forms

  • Living Will
  • Writing an Advance Directive
  • Choosing a Health Care Agent

What to Expect

How the hospital works

  • At the Hospital: Checking In
  • Medical Specialists
  • Hospital Isolation Rooms

Being an active patient

  • Better Care at Lower Costs
  • Patient Rights and HIPAA
  • Hospital Patient Advocates
  • Work Closely With Your Doctor
  • Working With More Than One Doctor

Your treatment

  • Costs of Treatment
  • Surgery: What to Expect
  • Anesthesia
  • Health Problems and Risks of Anesthesia

Making decisions about your treatment

  • Smart Decisions: Know Your Options
  • Medical Tests: Questions to Ask the Doctor
  • Monitoring Your Medicines in the Hospital

Preventing problems

  • Prevent Medical Errors
  • Keeping Track of Medicines
  • Hospital Staph Infections (MRSA)
  • Avoiding Infections in the Hospital
  • Preventing Falls in the Hospital

Your child in the hospital

  • NICU: Communicating With the Staff About Your Baby
  • Ways to Comfort a Baby in the Hospital
  • Preparing Your Child for the Hospital

When—and After—You Leave

As a smart patient, you want to find out exactly what you need to do after you leave the hospital to stay as healthy as possible.

Taking charge of your health after you're home is one of the best ways to prevent a return trip to the hospital.

  • Leaving the Hospital
  • Hospital Discharge Checklist
  • Managing Your Medical Bills
  • Organizing Your Medical Records
  • Living With More Than One Health Problem

Related Information

  • Pregnancy: Deciding Where to Deliver

References

Other Works Consulted

  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2011). 20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors. Patient Fact Sheet (AHRQ Publication No. 11-0089). Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Also available online: http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/20tips.pdf.
  • HealthGrades (2012). The Ninth Annual HealthGrades Patient Safety and Satisfaction Report. Denver: HealthGrades. Available online: https://www.cpmhealthgrades.com/index.cfm/portfolio/research-studies.
  • Sanders J (2011). Family-centered care of the child during illness and hospitalization. In MJ Hockenberry, D Wilson, eds., Wong's Nursing Care of Infants and Children, 9th ed., pp. 964–997. St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier.
  • Wachter RM (2016). Quality of care and patient safety. In L Goldman, A Schafer, eds., Goldman-Cecil Medicine, 25th ed., vol. 1, pp. 44–46. Philadelphia: Saunders.

Credits

Current as of: August 22, 2019

Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: Adam Husney MD - Family Medicine
John Pope MD - Pediatrics
E. Gregory Thompson MD - Internal Medicine

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    Before You Go
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    What to Expect
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    When—and After—You Leave
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    Related Information
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    References
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    Related Information
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Current as of: August 22, 2019

Author: Healthwise Staff

Medical Review: Adam Husney MD - Family Medicine & John Pope MD - Pediatrics & E. Gregory Thompson MD - Internal Medicine

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Topic Contents

  • Topic Overview
  • Before You Go
  • What to Expect
  • When—and After—You Leave
  • Related Information
  • References
  • Credits

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