10 Questions to Ask Before Hospitalizing Your Kid in a Psychiatric Facility

By: Mike Shery

As a parent, you are likely to be one of the first to recognize when your child may have a serious emotional or behavioral problem. What do you do first? What if someone you consulted has recommended that your child be hospitalized in a psychiatric facility?

Before doing anything else, gently engage your child in a dialogue about his or her feelings. You should also discuss your concerns with your kids teachers, coaches, school counselors or any other adults who may know him or her well. In many circumstances, this alone may be sufficient to begin the process of a sound resolution to the problem without more serious interventions, like hospitalization.

However, the following are some red flags which would indicate that it may be appropriate for you to assess the need for professional treatment options, such as, a psychiatric evaluation.

If you discover that your child has been sexually abused, delinquent, abusing drugs or alcohol or getting in trouble with the law, you may feel furious or panicked. As a matter of fact, you may not know what to say or do.

At this point it may be appropriate to consult a mental health professional ,apprise him or her of the situation, and ask for a recommendation.

If treatment in a psychiatric facility was recommended for your child, you may be frightened and confused. Hospitalization can be one of a range of viable options for your son or daughter. As a parent, however, you will gain a better understanding of your childs proposed treatment by receiving answers to the following questions:

1. Exactly why is inpatient treatment being recommended and how is it supposed to help?

2. What other alternatives are appropriate for my son or daughter besides treatment in a hospital, and how do they compare?

3. Specifically, what type of therapies will be included while he or she is in the hospital and how are they better than outpatient therapy?

4. How will our child be able to keep up with his or her school work while in the facility?

5. Will my child receive in depth psychological testing and psychotherapy by a clinical psychologist while hospitalized? Or will the treatment mainly consist of drug therapy by a psychiatrist?

6. How long do you expect that our child will be in the hospital, what are the fees and what avenues are open to us to pay for these services?

7. If the insurance company denies or severely restricts coverage and we can no longer afford to keep our child in the hospital, what alternatives are available if inpatient treatment is still necessary?

8. As parents, how will we be involved in our childs treatment, including the decision for his or her discharge and after-care? Will we be attending family counseling sessions regularly?

9. What criteria will be used to discharge our kid from the facility?

10. When our child is discharged, will it be necessary for him or her to receive follow-up care? If so, will it include regular psychotherapy to get to the heart of the matter, or just refinement of the medication plan? How will the family be involved and how much will it cost?

Hospital treatment is an important matter. You should raise the above questions before your child or adolescent is admitted to the hospital. It is crucial that you are informed and included as part of your childs treatment. Only then can you become all important contributors to it.

If after asking the above questions, you still have concerns, never hesitate to get a second opinion.

Article Source

Dr Shery is in Cary, IL, near Algonquin, Crystal Lake, Marengo and Lake-in-the-Hills. He’s an expert psychologist. Call 1 847 516 0899 and make an appt or learn more about counseling at: www.carypsychology.com

               

Patient Advocacy

Who is your advocate?

Unfortunately, when you are feeling your worst is when you must be your most diligent. The battling cancer war includes a few small skirmishes along the way. No matter what your battle plan you should have help in the form of an advocate.

Here are just some of the reasons why.

1. Inputting information:You’ve just been diagnosed with cancer and you’re being overloaded with new terminology and massive amounts of information. Your advocate will be taking notes in the doctor’s office, at the clinic and anywhere you are introduced to new information. You can sit back and let your head spin.

2. Health care decisions: Post op, as you struggle with your nasogastric tube is not the time to wonder what your doctor said about treatment options, or where your notes are on side effects of that new pill you took or to hope you have the strength to surf the web for information. Your advocate can help you sift through information, do research and assist you in making the best decision possible for your care.

3. Your barrier: The health care advocate is the person who stands between you and the world. Your advocate is the person who gets up and approaches that intimidating clerk in the waiting room and reminds them you have been waiting an hour. They will also block the door to your room when you are napping and someone wants to scrub your floor. Enough said.

4. Mistakes happen: No one likes to discuss mistakes, especially not your caregivers. But as long as there are humans, there will be human error. Your advocate has your medical history and can double check every pill brought to you and every IV bag that is hung.

5.Dealing with red-tape: The maze of insurance and hospital bureaucratic regulations is overwhelming when you feel 100%. Let your advocate play phone tag and chase paperwork from simple pre-qualification details to following up insurance payments.

6. The squeaky wheel gets greased: Here’s a little secret from the nurse’s break room. The patient with the annoying friend who keeps pushing the call button for pain meds exactly when they are due, is likely to get the nurse’s attention first. I’m not saying this is fair but then again, the cancer patient already knows life is far from fair.

7. Hand holding: There is much to be said for the simple human touch. Consider how much time passes in the typical hospital day without human touch–real human touch, not clinical touch, as though you were inanimate. The simple squeeze of a hand communicates far more eloquently and contributes more to your recovery than words.

How to Find an Advocate:

Consider who you trust and who you would be willing to be an advocate for if roles were reversed. Sometimes several close friends are willing to share your advocacy.

Additionally there are professionals whose job is patient advocacy; these include private duty nurses. They’ll put your needs first because they are being paid to. Ask you hospital social worker or doctor if they can recommend someone.

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Better Cancer Care Through Communication

A recent study published in the December 20 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology recommends that oncologists seek specialized training to help them hone their empathy skills. According to the lead investigators, physicians who rephrase their statements in way that leads the patient into an open line of communication can help significantly decrease levels of patient anxiety and depression and increase patient compliance and satisfaction.

While the idea of motivational interviewing in medicine is nothing new, this is the first time that it has been studied in the often emotionally-charged world of cancer treatment.

Having seen at least four teams’ worth of physicians come through my husband’s hospital room in the last few weeks, I can think of a few doctors who could really benefit from that kind of training. Have you ever had a patient-doctor interaction that has left you wishing that they stressed bedside manner more in medical school? Tell us about it in the comments!

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A Guide to Recognizing Who is In Your Hospital Room

Feel like you need a traffic controller to keep up with all the people coming in and out of your hospital room when you’re undergoing treatment? Here’s a short guide for recognizing who’s who so you can better direct your questions next time you or a loved one are in the hospital.

Medical Student

If you are in a teaching hospital, the first person to interrupt your sleep and ask you questions in the wee hours in the morning is the medical student. Lowest on the food chain, these individuals are easily distinguishable by their short white coats and slightly terrified looks on their faces (just kidding). These students have already completed the bulk of their basic sciences and theoretical course work and are just starting to see patients for the first time. Part of their duties are pre-rounding, or collecting basic information on how the patient perceives his or her situation or symptoms fared throughout the night. The medical student will then report this back to their team which is comprised of interns, residents and an attending physician.

Intern

These individuals are medical school graduates and may be dressed in a white coat or scrubs depending on their service. Interns are traditionally responsible for pre-rounding when medical students aren’t around, and while some may be able to answer basic questions you may have, most of the time they will have to defer to someone higher up on the food chain.  Think Season 1 on Grey’s Anatomy, only dressed in less form-fitting scrubs.

Resident

Called residents because historically they spend so much time in the hospital that they reside there, these men and women are doctors who have finished their intern year and are now completing training in a particular specialty. It is generally up to the resident to check up on you throughout the course of the day to monitor your condition. He or she will be more knowledgeable and will probably be able to answer your questions with confidence, but may still defer to their attending physician. Be aware that while your residents are the ones who you will be communicating with on a daily basis, he or she may be switching services during the course of your stay. In that case, you’ll get another resident with whom you will have to establish communication lines.

Attending Physician

These physicians have completed their residency training and are experienced in their field. While your attending physician is the doctor who “calls the shots,” your attending actually may only see you once a day. If your attending splits time between different hospitals or a clinic, he or she may round with you even less. Don’t worry if you have a question or concern — just tell your resident, and he or she will contact your attending for you.

Physician Assistant

In some cases, your attending physician may employ the use of a physician assistant. PAs have completed at least two years of training and are licensed to practice medicine under the supervision of a physician. Working closely with their attending physicians, they may check in daily to see how you are doing and will act as a liaison between you and your attending.

Nurse

Nurses are the licensed health care providers who are responsible for managing all of the orders given by your doctors from different teams. They are in charge of dispensing prescription medication, administering IVs, collecting samples and checking in on you several times a day. Hospital nurses are usually on 12-hour shifts, so you’ll meet many during your stay. If you have a question about your case management, they can also contact an intern, resident or attending physician on your behalf.

Nurse Assistant

Depending on the nature of your condition, you may have nurse assistants come through several times a day to assess your vital signs and help you with any daily living activities. Like nurses, they work on shifts, but be friendly to them you’ll be able to hit them up for extra blankets
Did I miss anyone? Let me know in the comments!