Hospital Stay Checklist
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Table of Contents
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Toggle Prepare for your hospital stay status
Prepare for your hospital stay
Toggle Quiz your doctor status
Quiz your doctor
Ask your doctor questions before surgery.
Toggle Name an advocate status
Name an advocate
A nationwide shortage of nurses means that each nurse has less time to tend to patients one-on-one. So ask a spouse, a family member, or a friend to fill the void. The ideal advocate is comfortable asking endless questions and confronting nurses and doctors when necessary.
Toggle Consider hiring a private nurse if you are unable to find an advocate status
Consider hiring a private nurse if you are unable to find an advocate
Although they're not cheap and insurance rarely covers their fees, they can change bandages, monitor your vital signs, and tend to your comfort. Request names from the hospital's visiting-nurse service, a local private nursing service, or a county nursing agency, or ask your doctor for suggestions.
Toggle Expect a pre-op consultation status
Expect a pre-op consultation
If you or somebody in your family has a history of problems with anesthesia, like severe nausea, or if you're feeling especially anxious about being put to sleep, be sure to discuss this with your doctor or your pre-op care provider. If a medical problem - anything from a cold to a urinary-tract infection - crops up between your consultation and the admitting date, tell the hospital and your physician. You may need to reschedule.
Toggle Gather your paperwork status
Gather your paperwork
There are two legal forms that will ensure your medical wishes are carried out: A medical power of attorney enables you to appoint a trusted person to make all medical decisions for you and a living will allows you to state your preferences regarding life-sustaining procedures when you're unable to communicate.
Toggle Prepare a list of your medications status
Prepare a list of your medications
Note how long you've been taking them and the dosage. Include prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, herbal supplements, vitamins, and even any illegal drugs. This information helps your doctor and the hospital nurses monitor your health. Vitamin E, for example, can cause excessive bleeding in some people. Give copies of these papers to both your doctor and your advocate.
Toggle Make a packing list status
Make a packing list
Necessities include your insurance card and any lab results or X-rays your doctor asked for.
Toggle Pay any household bills that will come due during your stay. status
Pay any household bills that will come due during your stay.
Toggle Arrange child and pet care. status
Arrange child and pet care.
Toggle Prepare a list of the e-mail addresses of friends and family, and recruit somebody to send out periodic updates. status
Prepare a list of the e-mail addresses of friends and family, and recruit somebody to send out periodic updates.
Toggle The night before, take a shower or bath and wash your hair status
The night before, take a shower or bath and wash your hair
Once you check in, you probably won't be able to bathe for a few days. Typically, your doctor will instruct you not to eat or drink anything after midnight.
Toggle At the Hospital status
At the Hospital
Toggle Introduce your advocate to your doctor and the head nurse status
Introduce your advocate to your doctor and the head nurse
Your advocate can keep a log detailing the medications you receive and the tests and procedures you undergo.
Toggle Ask for help status
Ask for help
Whether you want stronger pain medications or a second opinion on your aching hip, speak up.
Toggle Confirm your ID status
Confirm your ID
Check that the information on your wristband is correct. If you have any drug allergies, you should be given an additional band with them written on it. (Also, let the hospital know about any food allergies or special dietary needs you have.)
Toggle See that your surgeon marks the site status
See that your surgeon marks the site
He may do so with his initials or some other significant sign. (Operations on all limbs and organs with doubles require this safeguard.) In the operating room, most hospitals require a time-out before you are put under anesthesia, during which your name, the site, and the specific procedure will be confirmed by your doctor and the nurses.
Toggle Don't stand up alone status
Don't stand up alone
Ask for assistance when getting out of bed, regardless of how strong you feel.
Toggle Check medications status
Check medications
Ask what is being given to you and why. You or your advocate should see that the nurse always checks your wristband before giving you a pill, an injection, or an intravenous drug. And be sure to ask for a dose of your pain medication before a nursing shift change.
Toggle Insist on clean hands status
Insist on clean hands
Politely ask anybody who might be touching you to wash his hands or put on a new pair of gloves.
Toggle Don't overrest status
Don't overrest
If you can, get up and walk around, even just for ten minutes, to prevent your blood from clotting. Similarly, taking deep breaths or coughing regularly clears the lungs of phlegm, which helps prevent infections.
Download or Print this Hospital Stay Checklist
Get a printable version of this checklist in your preferred format: PDF, Word, Excel, or print directly from your browser.
Presented by:
Nicole Nichols-West
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Views: 24
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Uses: 3
Tasks
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Tasks: 21
Who it's for
This Hospital Stay Checklist is for anyone who wants a simple, practical way to get things done without missing steps.
- Avoid forgetting - keep all your Hospital Stay essentials in one place (external memory)
- Save time - start from a proven Hospital Stay structure instead of a blank page
- Stay on track - track progress, come back later, and keep momentum
- Coordinate with others - share the list and divide responsibilities
- Learn the process - follow the steps in a sensible order, even if it's your first time
How to use it
How to use this Hospital Stay Checklist
- Save Hospital Stay Checklist to your free Checklist account so your progress is saved and synced across devices.
- Customize it in the app: remove anything that does not apply, then add your own details for Hospital Stay (dates, sizes, addresses, notes).
- If others are involved, invite them to collaborate and divide responsibilities.
- Work through the list: check items off as you go, and set reminders for time-sensitive steps.
Rate this Checklist
5 stars
Scores 4.80 with 97 votes