The Patient as a Project (Part 2): Caregiver List of Supplies for Hospital Stays

Elvina Jeffers is a Director of IT PM/PMO in Louisiana. Project Management is her passion, and she loves sharing her experience and expertise as well as learning from others every day. Healthcare is her vocation, and she gets her energy knowing what she does makes a difference for the patient.

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Topics: Healthcare

This article continues Part 1 of The Patient as a Project: Optimizing Your Healthcare Experience.

Both my parents and in-laws are elderly and frail, so we get to see hospitals from inside a patient room more than I care to admit. Because of this, one of the tools we’ve created is our “jet pack” (sounds cooler than “emergency hospital kit”).

My Jet Pack Must-Haves

• Food, Toiletries and Comfort Supplies: At all times, I have at work and home a bag with a change of clothes, tennis shoes, bleach wipes, protein bars, packets of protein powder and shaker bottle, empty water bottle (like the ones used by cyclists), bags of cereal, peanut butter and crackers, travel toothbrush and toothpaste.
• Documentation Supplies: Four copies of the patient’s medication list (we keep four copies for both Mama and Daddy on the fridge with magnets, too), a notebook, black Sharpies, masking tape, extra pens and laptop--if I’m leaving from work I bring my work one, if leaving from home I grab my home one.  I also grab chargers for cell phone and Bluetooth--have some at work and at home. We have unlimited data, so if wireless at the hospital is a challenge, I use my phone as a wireless hub. It is also handy to look up any new medical terminology so I have folks spell things if I’m not sure what they are saying.

Jet Pack …

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