The Patient's Checklist: 10 Simple Hospital Checklists to Keep You Safe, Sane, and Organized

As a Registered Nurse and Patient Advocate, this book outlines everything one needs to know and consider for a hospital stay. Elizabeth Bailey outlines in her personal story how one or two small errors gone unchecked can snowball into a life changing or life threatening event. In today's complex hospital system, it is crucial for the patient and the patient's family to take an active part in the healthcare plan and keep their own record of facts to reduce errors and optimize care. This book addresses questions the patient might not have thought of and observations that might not seem important and outlines them in simple to use checklists.I purchased this book to help my family member for an upcoming surgery since I could not be there to assist. Honestly, I was blown away because it is basically a Nursing Care Plan in the patient's hands.Patients and their loved ones don't always know how to advocate for themselves or what to look for. This book gives them the tools. It is a must read for anyone anticipating a hospital stay and for the people supporting the patient.

I think everyone should read this book. As someone who has been in the hospital way too many times I would encourage all get this information. I didn't have this book before my forays in the hospital for my very life threatening illness and had to learn the hard way. With all the different people in and out of your room and no continuity you are the only one who is the constant. I was pleased to find the ideas in this book very similar to what I would suggest. Have a health partner so when you can't advocate for yourself they can.

This book is a lifesaver if you or someone you know is headed to the hospital. Elegantly constructed. Very helpful and written from a place of concern.

I purchased this book for my mother, a friend and myself. Great tool to help you be organized to log all the information regarding your medical condition, history, current meds, procedures, dr names, contact names, and then the ability to keep a diary of what is going to happen during your stay and your reactions to meds, procedures, and ongoing care (i.e., appointments, therapies, meds, etc). So organized that anyone who opens it will have at hand the important info to help you get the best medical care. The doctors who saw this book during my friend's stay in hospital were in awe of the book and said they were going to recommend it. Thanks to the author!

The Patient's Checklist was invaluable to me in my recent one-week hospital stay. It guided me in everything from communicating with the many levels of staff (aides, nurses, physician assistants, residents and my doctor) to tracking my medications and treatment to following the helpful tips about being a prepared patient.I recommend it to everyone going into the hospital for a long or just overnight stay. Personally, I don't know how I would have coped with my hospital experience without The Patient's Checklist!

This publication is loaded with useful information. By studying it with care and using the forms it provides, the patient and family can take charge of, or at least effectively monitor and manage, the hospital stay. Hospitals are generally chaotic places where critical, sometimes fatal, mistakes are made all the time. This book helps the patient/family not only to guard against such mistakes, but also to optimize the quality of care. Though it does address the high incidence of infections in hospitals, I think it could have provided, in one extended, separate section, very detailed advice as to how to ensure that proper sanitation is maintained constantly. The guide does a better job of addressing how to prevent medical mistakes. Other areas could possibly benefit from more extensive discussion, e.g., terminal hospitalization, administrative structure in hospitals and how to identify responsible officials, hospital to hospice. Waiting to figure out hospitalization until you land in one is not a good idea. This book helps you and your family to prepare and to manage your care effectively once you're there. Recommended.

This book is so important for everyone to read. The information is written in a very understandable style. The author has a great introductory story that gives her credibility. Then the easy nature of the tabs and the checklists make it a short 1-2 hour read for anyone. All of us with family or friends who land in the hospital or have scheduled surgeries should read and review this book prior to choosing the provider and hospital.Kim Amer, PhD, RN Associate Professor and Interim director DePaul University School of Nursing Author of Safety and Quality for Transformational Nursing: Core Competencies and Short Mort and the Big BullyShort Mort and the big bully

All this did was give the reader a million questions to ask their provider, their nurses, the hospital staff, etc etc etc. There were very few ANSWERS, which is what I was looking for. And the few things the author tells you to watch out for are so ridiculous, I would feel like a fool asking the doctor or nurses to address them.