For the public

There are many things that loved ones can do to improve a patient’s healthcare. Here are some tips that nurses mentioned most frequently in our interviews.

Appoint one family spokesperson.

Several nurses, as well as the networking website allnurses.com, offered an excellent suggestion to streamline hospital visits: Families or patients can designate one family member to communicate with nurses. This tactic saves nurses from having to take time away from patients to repeat themselves to various loved ones and ensures that one visitor is completely informed. Family members can write down all of their questions and the spokesperson can ask them, then relay the information to rest of the visitors.

Ask questions.

Patients and family spokespersons shouldn’t hesitate to ask doctors and nurses questions about their care and about the specifics of and reasons for procedures. “Even if you’re worried about annoying a doctor or nurse, if you have questions, you should ask them,” said a psychiatric nurse in Hawaii. “The patient and patient’s family need to know enough about what’s going on to advocate for the patient’s well-being. It could save your or your family member’s life.”

When asking questions, avoid asking “Why,” which can put healthcare providers on the defensive. Instead of inquiring, “Why did you give him that medication?” try “Help us to understand why he’s getting this medication,” a Texas family nurse practitioner suggested. Also, double-check the identification information on your armband or make sure your family/visitors know to check it for you. “Patients get better care when their family is involved, actively,” said a Virginia nurse practitioner.

Try to keep a list of questions so that you can ask them at one time; you can even write them on the whiteboard in the room. And don’t be intimidated to ask the doctor. “Countless times, the doctor has asked if there are questions, the patient and family timidly say no, and as soon as he leaves, they turn to the nurse and say, ‘What does that mean?’ ” said a Washington State nurse.

The best time to ask a nurse questions might be during the nurse’s second visit of her shift. At the start of her shift, she might be particularly busy visiting each patient; by the second pass-through, she should have more time to focus on your questions.

Be prepared.

To speed up wait times, maintain a written medical history complete with current prescriptions and dosages, vitamins, over-the-counter medications, allergies, diagnoses, and contact numbers so that you can hand a copy to your healthcare provider. Or take cell phone photos of medication labels and lab and diagnostic results so that they are handy at all times. In triage, be specific about the type and location of your pain or complaint.

Your hospital is not as clean as it could be.

Bring hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes. Use them.

Stay with the patient.

“It is really important to have someone stay in the hospital with you. Nurses may not always be able to keep a close eye on each of their patients,” said a Pacific Northwest PACU nurse. “Sometimes, the aggressive patients needing more nursing care take time from the quieter patients. It’s like the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” A Washington State nurse instructor suggests that relatives take turns so that someone is with the patient at least sixteen hours per day.

It’s helpful for the patient if you can be in the room for the doctor’s daily rounds. Ask the staff what time these rounds occur and let them know that you plan to be present for them.

Watch carefully when staff members enter your (or your loved one’s) room.

Not all doctors and nurses remember to wash their hands when entering a patient room. Nurses encourage patients and visitors to speak up if someone forgets. “I would just be direct about it: ‘Could you please wash your hands?’ ” said a physician for the U.S. Navy. “You might append it with something like, ‘I’m just nervous about catching something in the hospital while we are here.’ We all still slip up, so the reminder is actually appreciated, not awkward.”

Do as much as you can for yourself and for the patient.

Bring or find your own food and drink if you are staying with a patient rather than asking the nurse. If you want to help the nurse, ask what you can do for the patient. “It’s hard to lose control when someone is sick, and many times, visitors want to do something. Let us know that and we will gladly give you a task,” said an Oklahoma nursing supervisor. For example, visitors can keep a record of the patient’s fluid intake and output on the whiteboard.

Family members can give patients baths, brush their teeth, take them on walks, participate in therapies, and handle feeding, for example. “I’ve given a bath to a child while the parents sat there and watched,” said an Arizona pediatric nurse. “Nurses do not give magical baths. We give fast ones when we are busy. Any type of care that can be done by the family is not just a help to nurses; it aids in the healing process. Who better to care for someone than the people who love them most?”

Understand that a nurse’s schedule is complicated.

Even if your hospital medications are due at 6:00, you might not receive them at exactly that time because your nurse could have several other patients with medications due simultaneously. “When we’re passing meds on schedule, we usually have to get all of our patients medicated right then. 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 9:00 p.m. are very common massive medication times,” said a North Carolina ER nurse. “We usually have six to eight patients and some need ten medications. Some patients can take only one pill at a time, or all of their medications may have to be crushed and put into applesauce and painstakingly fed to them.”

Also, your nurse may be late answering your call light because “she was just holding the hand of a patient breathing his last breath; someone who just lost their mother, father, or spouse was crying on her shoulder; she was elbow deep in stool; or she was being verbally and physically abused by a drunk,” said an Illinois ICU nurse.

Most of all, be respectful, grateful, and kind.

Hopefully, this book will help the public to understand what nurses go through to provide the best possible healthcare. “Most nurses bust their asses taking care of their patients,” said a Maryland medical/surgical nurse. “Hospital administrators are cutting aides, receptionists, and other ancillary help, forcing nurses to do more work without more pay. Nurses are skipping lunches, getting UTIs from being too busy to go to the bathroom, and staying long past their twelve-hour shifts to finish documentation. Be nice to your nurses. They work so hard with little thanks. It means a lot when patients say thank you.” And if you want to go the extra mile, bring them treats.

If that’s not convincing enough, patients and visitors who are unkind can delay processes like repeat pain medication, a Washington, DC, nurse said, “because the nurses don’t want to deal with them.”

Write to the administration about your care.

If you have a wonderful nurse, write him or her a note; even better, write her supervisors about how much you appreciated the nursing care.

For aspiring nurses

Nursing is the fastest-growing occupation in the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Between 2014 and 2022, the United States will create 574,000 new jobs for nurses, many of them in the growing sectors of home health services and outpatient centers. The field needs more smart, dedicated workers. “The profession is exciting and fulfilling. This is a tremendously fabulous time for nurses because of the vast opportunities that exist,” said Terri Weaver, dean of the University of Illinois College of Nursing.