Make Medicine Better

In the most recent poll on www.makemedicinebetter.org, visitors are asked how satisfied they are with their hospital. Unfortunately, the choice with the highest number of 'votes' is "Very Dissatisfied." Trying to be optimistic, I added the two "Very Satisfieds" and "Somewhat Satisfieds" together, but still did not beat the "Very Dissatisfied" and "Somewhat Dissatisfied" totals — which I am sure Angela C. would tell me is the only way to make the comparison statiscally valid. So, after being disheartened, I decided it was necessary to do what we say this site is intended to help us do — learn how to make medicine better.

So, I started to do a mindsweep of some of the things that dissatisfy me when I go to any hospital whether as a patient (fortunately few and far between and only at BJC facilities) or as a visitor (to lots of hospitals, since I obviously have not done a good enough job convincing my friends that the only place to go for care is a BJC facility). And, the number one dissatisfier for me is that I truly don't want to be there. If I am a patient, I don't want to be sick. If I am a visitor, I don't want my loved one to be sick. So, I start off with the glass less than half full.

Coming in a close second, is the lack of control I have over my environs and my environment. Generally, as a patient someone else is deciding what I wear (which for those of you who know me, know that matters a lot), when I eat (again, for those who know me….) and when I sleep. As a visitor, the environment makes me uncomfortable — should I whisper, can I bring in my loved one's favorite food, is my visit too short, too long, should I leave the room when the nurse comes in, when the doctor comes in, when the dinner tray comes in? Again, feeling totally out of control.

At third is the lack of privacy. Again, lots of people get to come in and out of "my" room whether the door is closed or not.

Now, I admit that the last time I was a hospital patient was many years ago, but I have been a visitor and while some of these things have changed (for instance you can now bring your own jammies and at some hospitals order your food when you want it), a lot of what dissatisfies me is out of the hospital's control. But, what is within our control or perceived control, we should try to address. Poll results are a snapshot and can given us an indication of potential ways to spend our time and energy to, in the case of BJC, make medicine better.