General Condition Help

You might think that helping an older adult get to the hospital is as simple as dropping them off at "Admitting" and allowing the hospital staff to take care of the rest. Think again. Older patients desperately need your help because hospital risks are at an all-time high; even a short stay can be fraught with medical errors, medication mistakes, falls, infectious diseases and a host of other life threatening events for elderly in the hospital.

If your mother or father is in the hospital, you're probably wondering what you can do to make their stay a little easier. Hospitals are built for the staff, not for the patient, and they are notorious for being sterile, cold and uncomfortable, especially for the seniors in the hospital. Not to mention the bad food.

The hospital is the last place someone may think of when it comes to keeping active. Yet it is one of the most important places to make sure your parents keep moving

All of us will at some point have to deal with our own hospitalization or the hospitalization of a loved one—a parent, spouse, relative or good friend, and cope with the realities of what is happening in hospitals today. In a nutshell, there is a nationwide, drastic nursing shortage. Insurance companies require physicians to see too many patients in too little time. Many hospitals are under financial duress because of uninsured patients, patients who don't pay their bills and demands for new, expensive technology. Because of the baby boomer generation, there are more older patients with multiple medical issues that require hospitalization. Every physician and nurse I interviewed said this: "Hospital care is in crisis. You must have someone with a patient at all times. Loved ones are patients' best advocates.

Most people have heard of MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) infections, but there’s a new deadly bacterium lurking. C.diff (Clostridium difficile) is a multi-drug resistant bacterium most commonly found in hospitals and long-term care facilities.

If your parent has recently spent some time in the hospital, you may want to consider rehabilitation to help him or her get back into pre-hospital condition. Rehabilitation services can put elderly people back on the right track to regaining their strength, health and independence. As research shows, even a short stay in the hospital can lead to a decline in physical abilities.