You are admitted to the hospital. What can you expect? Entering the hospital can be a nerve-wracking experience, basically because we’re afraid. Will I get sicker by possibly developing an infection? Can the specialist see me right away? What if the nurse gives me the wrong medicine and I die? Will the treatment hurt?

Jessie Gruman, Ph.D., founder and President of the Center for the Advancement of Health, and author of AfterShock: What To Do When the Doctor Gives You—or Someone You Love a Devastating Diagnosis, knows what it’s like to enter the hospital. She’s had cancer and a dangerous heart condition, and has lived to write about the experience.

First, if possible, Dr. Gruman recommends having a relative or friend stay with you during the day and if necessary at night too while in the hospital. This may waylay a medical error and can make up for a hospital’s short staffing.

Recently, I visited my uncle in a Michigan hospital. A doctor came in to update him while I was present. Because I wasn’t his daughter, I listened and asked no questions, though my uncle did. Afterward, he wondered, which doctor was this? The hospital’s physician? A member of his personal doctor’s group? Or perhaps a doctor from the surgery team? Unfortunately, I thought he knew, but he had neglected to ask for more information.

Many professionals staff the hospital and will be a part of the team whose goal will be to heal or treat the patient. Most commonly seen and heard are the nurses who are quite busy handling acutely ill patients. Dr. Gruman believes a hospital stay of more than a few days requires an introduction to the nurse manager, who is actually in charge of the floor or unit. The clinical nurse specialist is the person who specializes in your disease within the hospital. He or she is a clinical expert in diagnosis, treatment, and the use of nursing interventions.

The medical social worker’s position is one of assistance. He or she will offer to put the patient in touch with the information and resources needed for the next stage of care. Dr. Gruman quotes Cheryl Dunlop, a medical social worker from Little Rock, Arkansas, “If they have had a stroke, we evaluate to see if they need acute rehabilitation or a nursing home. It is a huge decision to take away someone’s independence like this, so we try not to, which means that we work to get all the equipment into the home, get someone to be there twenty-four hours a day, and arrange the social systems that are needed, including figuring out the disability and workman’s compensation and insurance and getting started applying for SSI and Medicaid.” The medical social worker will need an order for visitation from your doctor; ask him to write one.

The patient navigator is a nurse, a doctor, a patient with experience, or a social worker who can assist in scheduling appointments with specialists, help explain test results, point out treatment options, monitor billing difficulties, recommend counseling, or just listen. Patient navigators usually find the patient, especially those without insurance, those who are not familiar with the healthcare system, or those who are not English speakers. Most often, their services are free. Check with a local hospital for a referral or contact The American Cancer Society.

Hospitals make available members of the clergy. Normally, when entering the hospital you are asked which faith you follow. (Choose the appropriate box, if able.) Healthcare chaplains are not present to proselytize, but to talk about what the patient finds essential to discuss. If a chaplain hasn’t arrived to visit, you can request him by asking the nurse how this can be arranged.

Raging, crying, sleeplessness, and withdrawal are signs of an emotional difficulty. Hospitals make available consultation-liaison psychiatrists—doctors who specialize in treating patients with medical illness within the facility. Their involvement is often essential for those who have received devastating diagnoses. Ask a doctor or nurse manager for a psychiatrist referral.

If you are unsatisfied with your treatment, availability of your doctor, or hospital care, phone the customer satisfaction section of the hospital directory. Do not wait until you are discharged, rather ask to see someone in your room about your complaint. For another source of help, phone the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

My uncle is home now, accepting daily visits from a nurse for the next few months to treat his life-threatening infection.  He says, "I'm not dying, I'm just old."