Making the Best of Hospital Stays

Going through a hospital stay is never going to be completely pleasant. You're there for a reason, which usually involves some sort of pain or illness. Even birth is a bitter sweet stay as you are still recovering from the trauma baby just put your body through. There are though little pieces that make your stay more enjoyable or at least tolerable. Each of my stays (or family member's stays) have had positive experiences involved in them. They also all did have negatives that occurred along the way also.

1) The Comforting Anesthesiologist
One of my best experiences came from orthopedic surgery on my ankle, while I was 12 weeks pregnant. Due to the pregnancy, the surgeon wanted to perform the operation with only a local block, meaning I would be fully awake during the ordeal. Everything before and after the surgery went pretty much by the book... right down to the nurses wanting to get us right out of the hospital. But during the surgery, my anesthesiologist was excellent. True they are supposed to stay with you to make sure everything is alright, he went above and beyond keeping the vitals.

First one of the nurses wanted to jump ahead with the catheter and he advocated for them to wait till the block was in place - thanks I didn't want to feel that. Then, apparently the block was really effective as it started to creep upward. He was on top of it and made the appropriate adjustments which allowed me to continue breathing - pretty important. Then the topper... about halfway through the surgery I began to feel some of the movements the surgeon was making since he was working with the bones. My anesthesiologist talked with me through the pain and did everything he could to help keep the pain under control.

2) The Nurses that Go the Extra Mile
All three of my labor and delivery experiences have been with the evening and/or late night crowd. I have found these ladies to be extremely sweet and caring. During a time when new parents can be scared and apprehensive, these nurses know how to put you at ease. With delivery of my last baby girl, we were fortunate to have our triage nurse follow us to the delivery room. At the beginning she made us feel comfortable, and joked with us making the environment light and fun (as fun as labor can be anyway).

3) Volunteers Who Guide
One of my last hospital experiences was with my husband getting shoulder surgery. When a loved one is in surgery, you must stick around so the doctor or recovery are can find you as needed. At Sparrow Hospital the waiting areas are extensive and the docs want you in a specific place. Once I checked in with the first volunteer, I must have looked overwhelmed as he walked me directly to the out-patient area. Once I got there, those ladies were very busy directing family members and taking names. At the time I was in need of finding a private space to use my breast pump as I was going to be away from my daughter for quite a while. The ladies were more than gracious to find me a place I could hide away.

From emergency rooms to delivery rooms the people are the shining stars that help make the stay just that much more tolerable. More and more demands are places on health care workers with not increases in compensation, yet in most of my encounters, those nurses, doctors and volunteers, knew how to take a minute to make us feel comfortable about whatever situation we were in.