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HOW TO PREVENT MEDICAL ERRORS via 1. Get involved with your medical care and you will get better results. 2. Be certain your doctor knows about all the medications you are taking, including over-the-counter medicines, supplements, herbs, and prescriptions. 3. Inform your doctor of all allergies and adverse reactions to medications. 4. Make sure you can read a prescription. 5. Ask for information about your medications in terms you can understand. 6. Make sure the pharmacy gives you the medicine that was prescribed. 7. Ask questions about directions, e.g. does “four doses” mean just in daytime or around the clock? 8. Ask the pharmacist for the best device to measure liquid medication. 9. Ask for written information about side effects. 10. Don’t hesitate to ask hospital workers to wash their hands. 11. If you have choice, choose a hospital and a surgeon that does a lot of the surgery you need 12. On discharge from the hospital, be sure you understand your home treatment plan. 13. Be sure that you know and agree about what exactly will be done in your surgery. 14. Speak up if you have concerns. 15. Make sure that someone, such as your personal doctor, is in charge of your care if you have multiple health concerns. 16. Don’t assume health professionals know everything you do about your care. 17. Ask a family member to speak for you when you cannot. 18. Find out if you would be better off without certain treatments or tests. 19. Don’t assume that no news about a test is good Be informed about your condition and treatm An informed, involved patient is a better patient. ____________________________________ HELPFUL HINTS FROM HERE AND THERE -Write down the name of the ostomy supplier and the number and size of all your equipment. This information should be kept in a safe place for easy reference. -When planning a trip, be sure to include the information in your ostomy emergency kit. -Some people find that a large teaspoonful of bulk gelatin dissolved in water or lemon juice once a day will firm up a loose stool. -The application of a couple of capsules of vitamin E, broken down and rubbed on sore and irritated skin around the stoma promotes overnight healing. - Drinking tomato juice will help eliminate odor and is a good tool to retard dehydration and keep the electrolytes in balance. - If you are taking chemotherapy and your mouth is sore, gargle with one teaspoonful of baking soda in a half glass of water. ______________________________________________ KEEP A MEDICAL JOURNAL Often a problem has been nagging at your body for weeks. Sometimes a piece of equipment doesn’t work properly. When you finally go to the doctor, or consult and ET, you find that they ask questions that you can’t answer. As a result, their diagnosis is based on incomplete information. To avoid such an event, it’s wise to write down the symptoms of problems as they occur. Often you will find that by writing of the symptoms and the preceding events you can spot some obvious solutions. A medical journal can provide you and your doctor with welcome and accurate information. 45 |