What happens to you in the hospital?
Picture this: a man lying in
Intensive Care, in a private hospital. A severe diabetic, he has been swinging
between hypo (too little) and hyper (too much) glycaemia (blood-sugar) since admission.
He was having difficulty breathing and drifting in and out of consciousness and was diagnosed with pneumonia and diabetes complications.
A few days later, his family was
called at 2am – their father/grandfather had tachycardia (a very fast
heartbeat) and couldn’t breathe. When the family rushed to his bedside, they
noticed that the oxygen supply to his oxygen mask was switched off! Big
surprise then that he couldn’t breathe. Surely, the first trouble-shooter the
nursing staff should have done was to check his oxygen supply?
Intensive Care nursing means just
that. Nurses should be assigned one (or two) patients at most. They need to
check vital signs consistently while keeping an eye on drips and monitors. A
patient should not have to reach the stage of agitation before a problem is
spotted, and what a flummox that it was his family who spotted the problem.
It makes me wonder how dedicated
nurses are to their calling? I understand that nursing is not for sissies, but
it’s not just a ‘job’ either. Nursing is a calling. A vocation. Nurses share a
special comrade. I only realised this
when I worked for corporate.
If there is one place we want to
stay away from, it’s a hospital. But sometimes, it’s unavoidable – especially if
you are going to have a baby. Here’s what you can do to help yourself:
- Don’t miss the ‘hospital tour’ and have your list of questions ready.
- Find out if it’s hospital policy to put baby skin-to-skin with you immediately after the birth – even if you had a c-section.
- Do they have a dedicated lactation consultant or midwife, to help with breastfeeding?
- Do babies stay with their mothers – during the night too?
- What do you need to bring?
- When should you go to the hospital?
- Do they let siblings see the new baby?
- What if your baby is jaundiced?
- Do take a look at the labour/delivery room, the operating theatre (even if you think you won’t need a c-section) and the Intensive Care Unit.
- Insist that your partner come with you. Very often this is when the reality of what’s about to happen hits him too.
- While you’re in the hospital, do as much as you can for yourself. Get up and ‘walk tall’ as soon as possible. Ask the midwives all the questions you want to know. Don’t hold back and think it’s a stupid question. Bath your baby. Nurse your baby as often as possible.
- Aim to stay in the hospital for as short as possible. You can relax and take it easy once you get home.
Some nurses have a good attitude,
others don’t. Try not to get upset if they hurt your feelings because you will
be very emotional and sensitive for the first few days after giving birth. You
will appreciate home more than ever when you get back.
Photograph: Aloise Ireland
