Surgery Savvy

I've just had a surgical procedure, and though I knew it was critical to ask the right questions before and after the surgery, I wasn't as clear about my rights as a patient, and, though we don't always think so, we do have rights and, ultimately, we are in charge. We can both refuse and direct treatment.

That being said, we must remember that the patient is the lay person in the place. We need to trust our surgeon, after having asked all the questions we can about the procedure, complications and his track record.

We need to interview our anesthesiologist and be sure he knows about all our allergies and ailments. In my case, a neck spasm that I had been struggling with muddied the waters. It hadn't occurred to me at all. My very good intake nurse hit upon the problem and insisted I tell him because it could impact the tube going down my throat after I was out.

The most important component to a pleasant recovery is definitely your staff of nurses, who I really believe run the hospital anyway. I experienced both heaven and hell in post-op and during the night. When I was in the most pain, one nurse tried to "explain", fairly sarcastically, why it was painful, instead of just giving me more pain meds.

I almost lost it and then made it clear that I wanted another nurse to watch over me, and the one who ultimately sat at the end of my bed throughout the rest of post-op was a much better caregiver. She was attentive, thoughtful, and quick to resolve problems.

Nighttime at a hospital is crazy. If sleep is really a critical component to getting better, you won't have a prayer until you're released. I'm quite sure I was awakened four times each night. It certainly seemed like I was getting more attention from midnight until 5:00 a.m. than I did all day, and at least one of my nurses was as cranky as I was about having to function on any level during that time slot.

So what are your rights? This is what Methodist Health System suggests.

"You have the right:

-to be informed about the care you will receive.
-to get information about your care in your language.
-to make decisions about your care, including refusing care.
-to know the names of the caregivers who treat you.
-to safe care.
-to have your pain treated.
-to know when something goes wrong with your care, an honest explanation and an apology in a reasonable amount of time.
-to get an up-to-date list of all your current medicines.
-to know what kind of security the hospital has and whether they will keep information about your case private.
-to be listened to.
-to be treated with courtesy and respect."

Be sure you know beforehand if there are any procedures that cannot be done at that facility and if you can get a copy of your medical records and test results. Visit the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality at www.ahrq.gov for their "Twenty Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors".

Find out who you speak with if a problem arises and how the facility handles complaints. If you are still not satisfied, file a complaint with the licensing authority at www.jointcommission.org.

Anticipate all you can. An ounce of prevention is definitely better than a pound of cure. Then listen to your head and heart. If you’re not comfortable about anything, assert yourself. You are you own best advocate.