{"id":297,"date":"2011-07-05T13:39:19","date_gmt":"2011-07-05T17:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/?p=297"},"modified":"2017-03-11T11:44:58","modified_gmt":"2017-03-11T16:44:58","slug":"basic-hospital-etiquette-what-should-i-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/?p=297","title":{"rendered":"Basic Hospital Etiquette: What Should I Know?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/basic-hospital-etiquette-what-should-i-know\/istock_000009554254xsmall\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-303\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-303 size-medium\" title=\"photo courtesy of \u00a9iStockphoto.com\/Claudiad\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/iStock_000009554254XSmall-e1489250664852-300x159.jpg\" alt=\"photo courtesy of iStockphoto.com\/Claudiad\" width=\"300\" height=\"159\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/iStock_000009554254XSmall-e1489250664852-300x159.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/iStock_000009554254XSmall-e1489250664852.jpg 424w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A few years ago, I was hospitalized for a surgical procedure which gave me a whole new perspective on this issue. While I had already been practicing some of the principles introduced here, I became very aware of the need to further address the lack of dignity and privacy. Wearing minimal clothing, lying in a bed with unfamiliar people moving around, and needles, needles, needles, combined to keep me on edge. That doesn&#8217;t even account for the hospital room door that hardly ever stayed shut.\u00a0I realized that I never fully understood\u00a0these issues as a visitor.<\/p>\n<p>By observing a few simple things, you can be the best prepared hospital minister your flock has ever had.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><strong>Always knock on the door, even if it is open.<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Knocking\u00a0conveys respect.<\/li>\n<li>Knocking gives them a moment to prepare or cover themself.<\/li>\n<li>Knocking conveys professional courtesy to medical personnel who may be in the room.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em>HIPAA laws have\u00a0caused doctors and nurses to be especially careful when treating a patient\u00a0or discussing medical\u00a0issues in front of others.\u00a0 If a medical professional is giving treatment, I usually step outside until he or she indicates that their interaction is complete, unless the patient requests that I stay.<\/em><\/p>\n<div><strong>Direct your attention to the patient.<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Make eye contact and smile.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid extended conversations with other people in the room.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid glances at their form or affected area, covered or uncovered.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid long looks at the medical equipment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"left\"><strong>Stand\u00a0relaxed and easy.<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">Taking a seat can often put you out of easy line of sight.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">Relax. If you are tense, they will likely sense it.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">Remember that you are here to minister to them.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"left\"><strong>Do not under ANY circumstance sit on the hospital bed, even if invited to do so.<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">There may be instruments or tubes hidden beneath the covers.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">The patient may\u00a0experience\u00a0pain because of bed movement. (Ooops, I&#8217;m sorry, doesn&#8217;t fix it.)<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">If invited closer, step alongside the head of the bed to pray or converse softly.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"left\"><strong>If your patient is out the room, ALWAYS leave a card with a short note on the back.<\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">Your kind note will be read many times over. Make it heartfelt.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div align=\"left\">If you do not have a card handy, ask for a piece of note paper at the nurse&#8217;s station.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<p>By eliminating the social awkwardness already experienced by your patient, you have a greater opportunity to minister to them!\u00a0 When they cease to be so keenly self-conscious, you have done your job well! \u00a0Set them at ease and then use your <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a title=\"How to Make a Meaningful Hospital Visit in 10 Minutes or Less\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/how-to-make-a-meaningful-hospital-visit-in-10-minutes-or-less\/\" target=\"_blank\">SLIPPR<\/a><\/span>, as referred to in <a title=\"How to Make a Meaningful Hospital Visit in 10 Minutes or Less\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/how-to-make-a-meaningful-hospital-visit-in-10-minutes-or-less\/\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;How to Make a Meaningful\u00a0Hospital\u00a0Visit in 10 Minutes or Less.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>Please share your observations and critique!\u00a0 We can sharpen each other!<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few years ago, I was hospitalized for a surgical procedure which gave me a whole new perspective on this issue. While I had already been practicing some of the principles introduced here, I became very aware of the need to further address the lack of dignity and privacy. Wearing minimal clothing, lying in a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,20],"class_list":["post-297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shepherding","tag-hospital","tag-how-to","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/iStock_000009554254XSmall-e1489250664852.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":117,"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":845,"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions\/845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mastonjackson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}