Many years ago, my younger sister was hospitalized with kidney stones. I stayed in her room one night to keep her company, and at one point I noticed a line of red traveling up the IV tube from her arm to the now empty bag. Alarmed, I called the nurse. She apologized for not checking sooner, and quickly attached a full bag.

Fortunately, that was not a life or death matter, but it could have been. In Hospital Stay Handbook, Jari Holland Buck reports on the many instances during her husband’s 8 ½ month hospital stay when his life was put in jeopardy due to errors. The causes of the errors varied – low nurse to patient ratios, changes from one hospital to another, heavy workload of doctors, simple miscommunication, or outright incompetence. Without his wife’s constant presence, Mr. Buck probably would have died.

During that long ordeal, Ms. Buck learned how to advocate for her husband’s health. Through trial and error she became an expert on what techniques work in patient advocacy. Hospital Stay Handbook explains what she learned.

She begins by emphasizing the importance of patient advocacy using statistics and her own experience. The next chapters detail her recommendations for effective advocacy. Many of the chapters include checklists to help the advocate cover all aspects of that recommendation. The first recommendation is “Take Care of Yourself.” Most people know that they cannot help others if they destroy themselves, yet often caregivers do exactly that by failing to get their own needs met.

Ms. Buck continues with recommendations about choosing a hospital, educating oneself, asking extensive questions about medications and procedures, keeping track of supplies used, and prayer. She concludes the recommendations by reiterating the importance of caring for oneself and by listing signs of caregiver stress.

The Afterword speaks to spiritual issues, especially the loss of soul that can occur during a long illness or a long period of caregiving. She states, “…suicide in service to another is not service, it is suicide.” Although the book is about advocating for another, I consider this to be the most important sentence because it speaks to advocacy for oneself as a prerequisite for caregiving.

Finally, Hospital Stay Handbook contains 5 appendices packed with additional information on advocacy and caregiving, important forms, and handling finances. A glossary of terms and an extensive resource list are also included.

I am very impressed with this outstanding book! Ms. Buck writes with both her heart and her head, and these combine to produce a richly informative guide to hospitalization. I highly recommend Hospital Stay Handbook to all readers, particularly those who have chronic medical problems in the family or anticipate hospitalization at a future time.



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