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Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide to Getting Your Loved One Out Alive

Martine Ehrenclou
Lemon Grove Press, LLC (2008)
ISBN 9780981524009
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (9/08)

“After multiple hospitalizations of her own family members, Martine Ehrenclou, M.A. spent hundreds of hours interviewing doctors, nurses, hospital social workers, psychologists, and other medical staff to find clear understanding, advice, and direction.” (from the back cover)  The results of this research are compiled into a basic and easy-to-read format in “Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide to Get Your Loved One Alive.”   

The book essentially contains step-by-step information and tips in dealing with all aspects of a hospital stay in order to ensure that your loved one receives the best care possible.  The most important point that I got from reading the book was to make sure that there is someone staying with the patient at all times in order to look out for the patient and to help prevent medical errors.  This person acts as a point person in dealings with the doctors and nurses, acts as a watchdog to ensure that everything is done accurately, and makes sure that the patient is receiving the proper care that is needed.

Ehrenclou’s handbook details all of the steps that you need to take and the details that you need to write down when talking to the nurses and doctors.  Also included is information of how to prevent medical errors, prevent infectious diseases, prevent fatal falls, how to get past language barriers, what to do if you live out of town, and other pertinent issues.  The last part of the book is made up of a “Quick Reference Guide” in which you can record all of the important information such as doctor’s contact information, medication information, vitals, errors made, etc.  There is also a “Daily Progress Notes” area to note which doctors and nurses saw the patient, observations of the patient, and other information.  Finally, the book concludes with a glossary of medical terms and definitions of hospital staff titles.

When I first read the title of the book, “Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide to Get Your Loved One Out Alive,” I thought that the wording was a bit on the dramatic side. However, once I started reading the book, I found the personal stories and statistics quoted in the book to be quite frightening.  I had no idea that such a huge amount of errors were made in the hospital setting.  For instance, “The Fifth Annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, 2008, found that patient safety incidents resulted in 238,337 potentially preventable deaths during 2004 through 2006.” (p. 12)   

You can tell that the author is very passionate about the topic at hand and she has left no stone unturned in her presentation of the steps one needs to take to ensure that proper care is received.  I think that this book will be beneficial to anyone who has a loved one in the hospital and also to students in nursing school or medical school.  There is a lot of useful advice in the book, some of which could truly make a difference, especially to the hospital novice.     

 

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