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Hospital wards

Being transferred to the hospital ward can be a real mixed bag of emotions for patients and families. While ward transfer is a sign of improvement and a step closer to going home, patients and families have to adjust to less monitoring and having fewer staff at close hand. 

Some patients "come to" on the wards, and have to begin to try to make sense of what has happened to them. Common psychological issues include strange dreams, problems sleeping or feeling anxious or low. Patients also become more aware of physical issues such as general weakness, tiredness, mobility problems, etc as they begin to do more for themselves.

In this section, we've provided some general information and advice on common physical and psychological issues issues during the ward stage of recovery, the types of staff involved in your care (who they are and what they do) and what to expect in terms of getting you home. We've also included sections on other people's experiences and frequently asked questions. We hope you find it helpful.

 

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Article: Medication

Will I go home on the same medication? You may find that you go home with more or sometimes less medication than you were taking before.It is not unusual for some of your normal medications to be stopped or to have new ones started. How can I find out more about any new medications? Ask your nurse, doctor or the ward pharmacist to explain what your new medications are for, how and when to take them, any side effects to look out for, or if they are likely to interfere with...

Web Link: Medicines explained

This link will take you to an NHS page explaining how 100s of different medications work, what they're for, how to take them and possible side-effects. It's not exhaustive, but we hope you find it helpful. 

Article: Mobility issues (walking)

Once you are transferred to the general ward and are beginning to become more active, you may be surprised to notice that you are perhaps not quite as able to do the things you thought you would. There are a number of reasons for this, not least that you are still in the very early stages of recovering from a serious illness, an operation or an accident. Tiredness and general weakness are extremely common, even if you only spent a short time in Intensive Care or were previously fit and...

Article: Muscle wasting and weakness

Why do you get muscle wasting? In the early stages of your illness, you may have been unconscious, and needed help from a breathing machine (or ventilator) for your breathing. During this time, you will have been unable to use the muscles in your arms and legs, and to move your joints yourself. We know from research (where pictures have been taken of the patients' muscles) that these muscles reduce in size, or waste, when they are not being used. This can happen quite...

External Article: NHS Inform

This link will take you to NHS inform,a new health information service designed to give you access to the information you need, when you need it. NHS Inform provide access to trustworthy information that can help you in many different ways. They can give you information on medical conditions, answer common health questions and keep you up to date with all the latest health-related news items. They also have lots of information on specific health and welfare topics from living with...

Document: NHS Lothian Interpreting Services Information

This short document sets out NHS Lothian's policy on providing free help with language, translation and interpretation. Contact details are provided.

Article: Not remembering what happened to you

Once patients are transferred to the wards, they often "come to" and have to begin to make sense of what's happened to them. Not remembering (amnesia) how you ended up in Intensive Care and what happened while you were there is extremely common. Patients sometimes "lose" the few days before ending up in Intensive Care, even though they were comparatively well at that time. Not remembering is likely to be a combination of how ill you were, the nature of your...

Article: Nurses

On each ward there are experienced nurses who are responsible for the safe running of the ward you are staying on. A team of trained nurses and healthcare support workers will also care for you during your hospital stay and one named nurse will be responsible for planning and co-ordinating your care. She / he will hand over your care when off duty to another trained nurse. The Charge Nurses have overall responsibility for the wards or areas and welcome comments on the care you are...

External Video: Nutritional advice

In this video, Judith talks about her role as a dietitian in Intensive Care. She talks about the nutritional issues patients commonly face after Intensive Care, and offers some advice for patients and family members to help the recovery process along.

Article: Occupational Therapist

What does an Occupational Therapist do? The Occupational Therapist (or OT) works very closely with the other members of ward staff to make sure that you will be able to look after yourself when you go home. This might involve various assessments to see if you are able to do everyday things like washing and dressing,cooking and managing housework and shopping.They will also help make sure that you have all the help you need when you get there. This might include things like arranging...