After six months of constant pain and having to go to Inova for visit after visit to determine what was wrong, today you’re finally going to get surgery. However, although you’re excited about no longer being in pain, you’re also extremely nervous about the surgery itself. Since they have to open you up in order to remove your gall bladder,…
You’ve been on and off some sort of exercise regime since you turned sixteen. You’ve tried every diet fad from Paleo to South Beach to Atkins, and yet each year you seem to be getting bigger and bigger. After seeing countless pictures of yourself surrounded by thinner friends and family, it has come to the point where you’re seriously thinking…
You’re scheduled to undergo surgery this morning and you’re fairly nervous. Although you are scared that something will go wrong, you don’t really have a choice. Your doctors have told you that you need this surgery, so you check in at the hospital with the hope that the procedure you’re going to receive will help you. When you wake up,…
A few months ago, your wife was in a horrible car accident and was raced to the hospital. While the doctors felt the surgery was successful, she suffered a seizure when she was put under anesthesia and may suffer permanent brain damage. Since your wife was unable to inform hospital staff of her past bad reactions to anesthesia when she…
We expect hospitals to be clean. Restaurants, food processing plans, and stores are inspected for cleanliness. But surprisingly, hospitals and even operating rooms, are not. Cleanliness is not measured by The Joint Commission, which inspects and accredits U.S. hospitals. Nor do most state health departments or the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assess hospitals for sanitary conditions. With…
No one expects that getting treatment for a medical problem could actually worsen your health—and they shouldn’t! No one should ever have to worry that seeing a doctor could put their health at risk. Sadly, however, the Centers for Disease Control estimate that one out of every 25 patients being cared for in a hospital has at least one healthcare-associated…
When you go to a hospital for treatment, you expect that the staff will be respectful, professional and knowledgeable. You hope that your ailment will be easily diagnosed and the proper treatment will be administered so you can get back to feeling like yourself. Unfortunately, hospital visits aren’t always straightforward, doctors aren’t always truthful, and sometimes you may leave feeling…
Have you ever overheard a doctor or nurse talking about a patient in a public area such as an elevator or hospital cafeteria? Has a nurse ever tried to excuse her tardiness by telling you about the patient she saw before getting to you? How often have you wondered about whether your doctor or nurse talks about you in public?…
Anticoagulation medicines are given to patients whose blood clots too quickly. When this occurs, blood clots can form in the wrong places, and cause life-threatening injuries such as a stroke or pulmonary embolism. Anticoagulation medicines are designed to thin the blood, making the formation of blood clots within the heart, arterial system and venous system less likely. There are numerous conditions…
Anesthesia is used in many ways during medical procedures. From numbing a specific area to relaxing a patient to inducing complete unconsciousness, anesthesiologists must be careful about how it is administered. When things go wrong with anesthesia, it is usually because of a dosage error. Medication dosage errors are more common than many people realize. Unfortunately, all people—even doctors—can make…