New guide for inpatients at hospital will help ease worry
By Mary Dennehy
TALLAGHT University Hospital has created a new guide for inpatients, in the hope of easing the worry or anxiety some may experience when admitted to hospital.
According to Tallaght University Hospital (TUH), being admitted to hospital can be a very anxious time, and takes a person out of their regular environment and into strange surroundings where the routine is unfamiliar.
Pictured left to right at the launch of the new TUH Inpatient Guide are Niamh Murray (Patient Advice & Liaison Service Team Leader), Carol Mullins (Patient Advice & Liaison Service Manager), Catherine Heaney (Chair of the TUH Patient Community Advisory Council & Coordinator of the Fettercairn Community Health Project) and Áine Lynch (TUH Director of Nursing)
With this in mind, TUH has created a guide for inpatients, which includes, for example, the daily routine of meal times, introductions to the different staff a patient may come across during their stay, facilities available and the supports on hand.
According to Áine Lynch, Director of Nursing at TUH: “We provide patients with a lot of information on their health conditions but have not focused previously on their hospital stay and how they can get the best out of it.
“By providing the information in this patient guide we hope it will both enable and empower patients and families to be actively involved in their care, medication management and discharge planning.
“We are encouraging patients to play a more active role in their health care and the information in this patient guide is a great way to support that role.”
The guide is available on the TUH website and hospital app, and will also be provided to patients when they are admitted to a hospital ward.
Catherine Heaney, Chair of the Patient Community Advisory Council (PCAC) said: “The members of the PCAC were all given an opportunity to contribute to the content of this guide, bringing our experience as patients / carers making sure things were included that we would find useful.
“We also think it will be of huge benefit not just to the patient but also to their families giving them an insight into the routine in the hospital and most importantly the plans for the patient being discharged.”
The initiative was led by the Communications Department in TUH with support from colleagues across multiple disciplines and the Patient Advice and Liaison Service.
Visit www.tuh.ie or follow Tallaght University Hospital on Facebook for more.
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