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“Protect Yourself in the Hospital: Insider Tips for Avoiding Hospital Mistakes for Yourself or Someone You Love” is published by McGraw-Hill and is available for purchase on Amazon.
This book has been acclaimed both nationally and internationally. The following reviews have been received from the two of the most prestigious newspapers:
The Washington Post; October 21, 2003Book Review by Gregory MottTHE BOOK”Protect Yourself in the Hospital: Insider Tips for Avoiding Hospital Mistakes for Yourself or Someone You Love” (Contemporary Books, $12.95) aims to persuade readers that they have no reason to trust that they will get quality care unless they’re willing to persistently demand it.
THE AUTHOR
Thomas A. Sharon can speak with authority on the subject. He is a registered nurse who holds a master’s degree in public health and has worked for two decades as a consultant to attorneys in cases where hospitals have been accused of preventable errors. Many of the book’s examples of poor care draw on his experiences.
THE GOOD
Sharon does not oversell his case. He offers practical examples and valuable insights on the things that can go wrong in the ER, on a ward, in the ICU or with the business office. His system for rating hospitals, for example, urges consumers to take into account things like fiscal stability, labor relations and the smell of the place.
THE BAD
It is perhaps understandable, given the author’s line of work and his mission in this book, but there is a relentless tone of negativity that might make you forget that unnecessarily horrific experiences in the hospital are the exception rather than the rule. We hope.
FURTHERMORE
Each chapter ends with a checklist or set of talking points to be used in assessing your chances of getting out of the hospital alive. Acknowledging that the moment when you need a hospital is the worst time to do research, Sharon suggests that consumers with the freedom to choose among facilities seek answers in advance.
The New York Times, February 17, 2004BOOKS ON HEALTH “Protect Yourself in the Hospital” , by Thomas A. Sharon. Contemporary Books, $12.95.Surviving the Healing
By JOHN LANGONE
The sooner patients can be removed from the depressing influence of general hospital life,” Dr. Charles Mayo observed in 1916, “the more rapid their convalescence.”Indeed, hospitals are essential, but too often they are bastions of bureaucracy, neglect and sometimes outright ineptitude. One often cited statistic from a 1999 Harvard study puts the hazards of a hospital stay in chilling perspective: hospitals kill nearly 100,000 people a year because of human error, faulty techniques, malfunctioning equipment, wanton carelessness, oversights or assaults.
“Many more leave the hospital worse off than when they went in,” writes Mr. Sharon in his book, one of these three that outlines the pitfalls of a hospital stay and how to make the best of it.
Mr. Sharon, a registered nurse and legal consultant, offers what he calls “insider tips for avoiding hospital mistakes,” information that includes ways to prevent mishaps in intensive care units, play the “emergency room waiting game,” communicate with staff to get better service and deal with managed care when you’re told that “your request for treatment has been denied.”
Much of his advice depends on the patient’s asking questions and being observant and insistent.
In the I.C.U., for example, he advises asking the nurse what each wire and tube is for, checking for swelling and redness from the insertion of intravenous lines, and seeing to it that, in the case of a transfusion, the nurse matches the serial numbers and the blood type between the transfusion ticket and the label on the blood product unit in the presence of a second nurse.
“Pay attention to how many patients your nurse is assigned to,” he writes. “If there are three or more, lodge a complaint with the health administration and follow up with the health department if you do not get a satisfactory response.”