Joyce Graff from the Powerful Patient – Advice to Caregivers on BlogTalkRadio – Feb. 17th at 12noon PST

Joyce Graff host of Powerful Patient – Advice to Caregivers on BlogTalkRadio will be interviewing Viki Kind. http://powerfulpatient.org/

Do you feel helpless in the face of “the system?” This show is to help you learn how to take control and steer your way to health. Hear how others have met these challenges and overcome them. Learn how you can do so too. This program is a forum to share your experiences, ask your questions, and learn how to create and manage your health care team. Make the healthcare system work for you! Powerful Patient won a grant from Chase Community Giving. http://www.tinyurl.com/vhlchase

Have a kind and respectful day.

Be careful about going to the hospital in July – It could be dangerous to your health

I was talking to legal nurse expert, Patricia Coonan, and she was telling me that there is a definite increase in medical errors in July. I have heard this joked about in the world of medicine, but it is not a joke. Errors increase every year at this time because this is when doctors in training shift to a new level of responsibility. The newly graduated doctor becomes an intern, the intern becomes a resident and the resident becomes a fellow. With this increase in responsibilities practically overnight, the doctor needs to be ever more vigilant about asking for help when they get into an overwhelming situation. It is normal for them to need help occasionally and they need to speak up at those times. Patricia says that medical negligence is usually not because the patient has the negative side effect, but is when the doctors or nurses don’t notice and fix the problem. Medical errors are normal because humans are taking care of us. And the younger doctors are still learning.

I am not telling you this to scare you but to make sure you are educated. You should always have a patient advocate at the hospital with you. You should ask what medicine is being given to you and what dose you are getting. If it is not on your list of medicines, ask why you are getting this new drug. You should make sure people are washing their hands before they touch you. You should make sure you have all of your questions answered before you sign a consent form. If you can, ask questions and make sure you are getting a consistent message from your doctors. If you are too ill to watch out for yourself, then get a love one to protect you and ask questions.

The only way you get new doctors is to train them. And they get trained by learning on all of us. These are real doctors and they have been well trained. I have had all of these levels of doctors take care of me when I was in the hospital and I was just fine. So, I am not saying you should be afraid of interns, residents or fellows. This is just a reminder to be your own patient advocate.

Are you the patient’s advocate or a bully?

This might be painful to read, but you may be making things worse for your loved one. Now I am a big believer in advocating for what you need in healthcare but there is a line which shouldn’t be crossed. And the line is when you start bullying the members of the healthcare team. Here is what this might look like. The doctor says, “What you are requesting won’t work for this condition. That treatment isn’t an option.” And you say, “You have to do it anyway or I will sue you.” You will probably get your way because doctors are afraid of the “l” word, lawsuit. But what you really just got is a medical treatment that will not work for your loved one and will only give them toxic side effects. Are you sure that’s what you meant to do?

If you truly want to know if a treatment is appropriate, ask for a second or third opinion. If you can find a doctor that will give you what you want, then change to that doctor. But if after you have asked 2 or 3 other doctors and they all tell you no, then you need to realize what you are getting is good medical advice. If everyone around you reacts negatively to you, it is not everyone being the problem, it is you. So if all the doctors and nurses are a “problem”, then perhaps the problem is you. You may be a bully.

You may think that if you become loud and demanding then you will get what you want. It doesn’t work that way in hospitals. You may get what you want but you will destroy the relationship between the patient and the doctor. And did you know that if the patient trusts the doctor, they will actually heal faster? It’s true. So when you damage the relationship, you are damaging the recovery process. And again, your good intentions will cause harm.

The doctors and nurses will start avoiding the patient’s room and spend less time interacting with you and the patient. And you and your loved one will become known as the “problem in room 321.” Every nurse that comes on shift will be warned about you. And again, that doesn’t get you what you want.

If you want to get more, be kinder and more appreciative. I always tell people that if you want to get better care, bring snacks to the nurses. Say thank you to the doctor. Make them want to spend more time thinking about your loved ones health and more time talking to you and the patient. Be a part of the healthcare solution.

Have a kind and respectful day.