Guest Author Kris, Patient

My experiences with inpatient care have all been pretty positive. I am always a nervous wreck when I’m away from home in an unfamiliar place, so that part of it was uncomfortable. During my three C-sections, I was awake, which took some of the pressure off compared to during my surgery when I was put under. After that surgery, I was in a lot more pain than during (and after) the C-sections. In the OBGYN ward, the air was always light and cheerful, probably because of the happiness with all the new babies. It was tenser in the surgical ward because of the seriousness of the surgeries. I was always very confident in my surgeons and caregivers, and I trusted that they would do everything they could to help me. In my experience, all of my caregivers were very professional. The food was never as good as at home, but the dietary aides were very nice. The pharmacy always came up to explain my prescriptions to me before I began taking them, and pain control was a huge factor. They always wanted to keep me as comfortable as possible, but with the least amount of medication possible, which, looking back on, I really appreciate. The occupational therapy department came in daily to help me with my ADLs (activities of daily living). They wanted me to do everything I could on my own as soon as I could, but they were always there to supervise if I should have trouble. I remember the visiting hours were always very fair too. They even let my husband Pat stay a couple hours past the visiting hours one night because they knew it had been a rough day for me. That compassion really sticks out looking back at my hospital stay. As far as cleanliness, I have a hard time finding anyplace as clean as I think it could be, but I would give that hospital an A- for its cleanliness, which is pretty good coming from me.
The only negative experience I can recall about my stays in the hospital would be when I had my first child. Every other pregnancy I had a private room, but with Katie the hospital was renovating the OBGYN ward, so there were two active labor mothers in one room. That was a little stressful, but I know they were doing the best they could in the situation. Other than that, I really have no complaints about my stay in inpatient cares, as my experiences have all been positive ones.
--Kris