Tips for the Acute Setting

Tips for the Acute Setting

1. Get as much information as you can on your loved one’s condition. (See printable questionnaire.) Once you know what you’re dealing with, you can make informed decisions about the best care plan.
2. Do your own research but also use the doctors and nurses as a resource.
3. Gather information from each specialist on your loved one’s care team. Many people who require family caregiving assistance have concurring health issues, such as diabetes, heart disease, breathing, and/or kidney problems—each one requiring a different specialist. Together, the specialists make up your loved one’s hospital care team.
4. Make sure that each specialist is communicating with the others. If not, this can cause conflicting treatment or medications. In our case I had a neurologist order an MRI without coordinating with the cardiologist. My mom had a pacemaker, and this could have been a fatal error.
5. Take notes or record the meetings to review or listen to later, when you are able to focus clearly; don’t worry if at the time you do nothing with the information or if you feel like there is too much information to grasp. It will take time to process and you may feel overwhelmed initially.
6. Find out who is in charge of coordinating care. There is usually one doctor or team that will oversee and direct care.
7. Ask for a business card from each doctor (or write doctor’s name, specialty and phone number on a notepad). You will think of questions or may have concerns after the doctor has left the room. Write things down as you think of them, then call doctors at their offices with your questions or address it in person on the next visit.
8. Ask each doctor his or her approximate time of rounds. This way you can be in the room at that time, instead of waiting around for hours. The doctors usually can give you a general idea of when they’ll be back. If you are unable to wait, write the question down and ask the duty nurse to have the doctor address your concern and call you to discuss.
9. In some cases this may be the time to get information on hospice. I found when hospice was mentioned by the doctors in the hospital, it was defined in a dire manner. Once I spoke to a hospice social worker, however, I had a better understanding of the positive services and benefits offered by Hospice today. Hospice care has changed dramatically over the past few years. While the focus is still on caring not curing, Hospice offers many services which continue to help the family and care partnering team even after your loved one has passed. Examples of creative alternative care for the comfort of your loved one are pet and aroma therapy, light touch massage, and spiritual counseling. Just knowing about these benefits – even before you need them -  can be helpful to you and your loved one.
10. Traumatic events involving the health and care of a loved one can be stressful for a family. To minimize emotionally charged arguments and decisions, you may want to consider having family meetings and/or discussions to open communication regarding care decisions. By setting guidelines and objectives to each meeting, you may be able to minimize hurt feelings and arguments.