The first 30 days following a patient’s discharge from a hospital or nursing home are crucial to recovery, especially if you were hospitalized for heart failure or heart attack.
This is especially true as you get older since many of us might need temporary special care and support to avoid complications that can send you back to the hospital.
Making sure you have a smooth transition from hospital to home is not something many people consider.
“Planning for what will happen once you are discharged from the hospital is important,” said Janice Zengotita, MSW, MPH, Lakeland Regional Health Care Coordinator. “That plan can keep you from being re-admitted to a hospital. Being in the hospital is costly, it’s an interruption to your daily life, and it can be a burden on your family. While we provide exceptional care at our Medical Center, being in a hospital is not anyone’s idea of fun.”
Education patients and their families can be a challenge, said Zengotita. So often, patients interpret discharge papers as a signal to return to normal routines. “Treatment doesn’t necessarily stop when you leave our doors,” Zengotita explains. “You may need to spend extra time recuperating at home, and you may need to take a few more days off. Being discharged doesn’t mean you may not still need care at home.”
If you are a patient or family member of a patient who has recently been discharged, here are a few tips on how you can make the hospital-to-home transition as safe and successful as possible:
- Know your medications, especially the new ones. Fill the prescription right away and do not wait for your first clinic appointment. Your doctor in the hospital should work closely with your care provider to share information about medications you need to recover and stay healthy. Drug interactions and dosages are important to know, so discuss these with your doctor, nurse and pharmacist. Keep your medications organized and keep tab of what doses were given at which time. Be careful not to run out of medicine, and be sure to discard old medications you no longer take.
- Avoid risks of injury or falls. You are often weakest following a surgical procedure or hospitalization and won’t be able to get around like you normally do. Certain new medications may make you dizzy or unsteady for the first few days. Check your house for any areas or objects, such as throw rugs, that may increase the risk of injury. Do not be afraid to ask for assistance when you are standing, walking, getting out of bed or bathing. If needed, come up with a schedule of friends and family who can help. Would home healthcare be helpful?
- Avoid overexertion. Do not try to do too much during your recovery. Ask for help.
- Keep your follow-up appointments. Your care provider can recognize any early problems that may be silently worsening after your discharge. For some conditions, you should be seen by a care provider multiple times over the next 30 days. In addition to your follow-up appointments, physical therapy is often integral to recovery from surgeries so be sure to not miss these sessions.
- Make necessary lifestyle changes. While changing your diet and fitness habits or quitting smoking can be hard, they are an important part of your recovery and avoiding your heart failure or other conditions to worsen. Surgical site infections and stomach stress ulcers are less common in those who quit smoking.
- Don’t be shy about asking questions. Whether you have questions about changing medications or don’t completely understand how to care for a post-surgery wound, your care team will be able to explain this important information. Take notes and ask for instructions to be repeated if you don’t understand clearly. Prior to being discharged from Lakeland Regional Health, patients receive a customized Personal Health Record that contains warning signs, a phone number to call with questions, medication instructions and spaces to write questions for the pharmacist, case manager or primary care provider.
- How will you know if recovery isn’t going well? Make sure your care team has provided you with a list of red flags and symptoms to look for. Weight gain, for instance, is a primary indication of worsening heart failure, so keep track of your weight. You can catch worsening heart failure before a return visit to the hospital becomes necessary.