How to navigate a hospital - the Do's and Don'ts

Great article on understanding hospitals, the do's, don'ts, knows and nots.

While hospitals can provide a secure refuge when you are seriously ill, remember that hospitals can be scary places! For one thing, the very fact that your doctor wants you to be admitted into hospital means that he thinks you are quite ill and this in itself can generate considerable anxiety! Even worse, hospitals can be very unfriendly places. Not only do hospitals strip you of all your dignity (having to wear a half-open hospital gown which barely covers your body properly does not do much good to your ego!), but also they subject you to painful routines and humiliating rituals performed by a retinue of strangers. Moreover, you could be woken up at any time of the day, (or night), deprived of your privacy, forced to eat unpalatable food, cut off from friends and family, and denied a lot of the independence which you take so much for granted in daily life. Also, remember that hospitals can be dangerous to your health as well! Hospital-acquired infections have become increasingly common ( since a number of sick patients are gathered together under one roof); and errors and mix-ups are not unusual at all, especially in India, where the paramedical staff is often poorly trained.

Check it out here.