Be Personally Involved & Proactive

We are grateful for the men and women who serve in our conventional medical system. When it comes to your health, it’s important to be personally involved and proactive to ensure medical errors do not occur.

Here are some tips on how to avoid them from Dr. Dagmara Beine and Believe Big.

1. Be your own advocate. Yes, we need to listen to the wisdom of our doctors, but we also need to listen to our bodies to know what is best for us.
2. Be the squeaky wheel.  Research and ask questions.
3. Be respectful but be the patient that makes everyone double check their work.
4. Ivelisse’s best tip – Make sure you have an advocate or helper that can be with you during your stay at the hospital. The advocate’s role is to be present when you are interacting with your medical care team so the advocate can ensure your needs as a patient are met. They can also confirm that the medications you are receiving are the ones being given. There are several medical staff shift changes and communication between hospital staff can break even at top hospitals. They can write instructions into the notebook you bring to keep all medications and instructions clear. Make sure that the staff knows how to reach your family too.

For more hospital stay tips (module 2) watch our newly released video series “I Have Cancer, Now What?”.

View the portal now: www.believebig.org/patientportal