Prescription for Admission: A Doctor's Guide for Navigating the Hospital, Advocating for Yourself, and Having a Better Hospitalization

by Monique Nugent

When you’re already sick, injured, or in pain, a hospital visit adds more stress to an already overwhelming situation. Every step is often too confusing, too opaque, and too cumbersome for patients to feel fully in control.
With the right knowledge, your hospitalization can be a positive experience full of the comfort, communication, and compassion you deserve.

In Prescription for Admission , hospitalist Dr. Monique Nugent simplifies acute hospitalizations to help you receive better treatment and improve your experience. Whether you’re facing a trip to the ER, an unexpected inpatient stay, or a planned hospitalization for cancer treatment, this complete guide provides the critical information you need to navigate the hospital—so you can stay calm, feel confident, and focus on healing after a health crisis.

You’ll A hospital is meant to be a place for support, not frustration and confusion. Purchase Prescription for Admission now and prepare for your next hospital visit as an active participant in your health!

Genres: Medical, Nonfiction, Self Help, Health

209 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 2, 2023

About the author

Monique Nugent MD, MPH is a practicing hospitalist and physician leader. She completed her medical school and residency training at Loma Linda School of Medicine and earned her master of public health degree from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Host of the podcast Tired Doctors Talking, she has also published several articles.

Dr. Nugent has shaped her medical career to include leadership and advocacy alongside her clinical practice. As a physician, she advocates for every patient by working to make health care equitable, safe, and high quality.

The parents of three children, Dr. Nugent and her husband live in the Boston area, where she enjoys cooking and collecting cookbooks. She also loves to travel and visit art museums, mainly when she can talk her daughters into accompanying her.
https://drmoniquenugent.com

Reviews

[Dona's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author Monique Nugent MD, MPH, publishers Charm Publishers and Independent Book Publishers Association, and as always NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of PRESCRIPTION FOR ADMISSION.

In this book, Nugent provides a thorough guide to how to get the most out of your hospital visit. Since this actually starts well before the point you step inside the hospital, she includes advice like keeping a current and handy record of medications, a current living directive, and even how to distinguish between needing a doctor's visit or an urgent care visit or an ER visit. She does go through a hospital visit, with and without admission, step by step, introducing different medical professionals the patient should meet along the way, and why the patient might be asked to do certain things.

This book is important for a few reasons. First and most obviously, it demystifies a very stressful process and makes it easier for patients, who need less stress, not more. Second, it gives patients a framework of expectations to operate within, so they don't feel swept through such an important encounter, so they get all they can from it, and so don't feel like they missed something. And maybe most importantly-- it let's patients know when an aspect of their care is missing. Are they being discharged from ER without seeing the doctor? This book indicates that might be incomplete care and the patient could ask to speak to the doctor who signed their discharge papers.

I can honestly say I wish I had read this book 4 days earlier, before my last hospital visit, which I'm sure would have gone very differently otherwise. For people who spend time in the US medical system, this book is a gift. For those readers who have not yet needed it for themselves, I still suggest this book-- after all, we all have elders who are getting older!

Rating: 🩻🩻🩻🩻.5 / 5 x-rays
Recommend? Definitely!
Finished: March 27 2023
Read this if:
🩺 You visit doctors/hospitals often
👵 You have aging family members
😬 You have anxiety about hospital visits
🩹 You think hospitals are like on TV
🍭 You think hospitals give out lollipops

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prescription for Admission
A Doctor's Guide for Navigating the Hospital, Advocating for Yourself, and Having a Better Hospitalization
by: Monique Nugent
Charm Publishing, Independent Book Publishers Association (BPA), Members' Titles
Health, Mind and Body, Nonfiction (Adult)

This book is a valuable resource for anyone who is facing a hospital stay now or perhaps in the future. The author Dr. Nugent describes what to expect during the stay and gives tips on communication throughout the stay and during discharge. The well-organized book and user-friendly book is divided into six sections covering many aspects of hospital stays and health planning.

Thank you to Net Galley and Charm Publishing, Independent Book Publishers Association (BPA), Members' Titles for the advance reader's copy. My review is my own.

[Melissa B · Rating 4 out of 5]

timely

I won this through GoodReads First Reads.
This came at the perfect time, as I am going in for cancer surgery this week. Although my stay should be short and this is geared to a longer stay, there was much excellent advise.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This non-fiction text is the ultimate how-to guide for hospital stays. It is organized into parts, covering each step of an average hospitalization, from the pre-planning or decisions related to arriving at a hospital, to the diagnosis, tests and treatments that might occur in the first few days of a hospital stay to the planning, meeting and decision process around leaving the hospital. Some sections/topics covered include: questions to ask specific medical professionals, decisions and discussions to have with family before life saving measures need to be made, common medical language and what the acronyms you hear on Grey's Anatomy stand for, your role in being an active part of your care, things to consider at each stage of a hospitalization. The author was very knowledgable, clear and concise, giving a variety of tips, strategies, information and even planning pages or lists you could keep handy for your own reference during portions of a hospital stay. I think this guide is super important, especially for anyone who has a chronic illness and may need to navigate the medical system, and for their family members. It is also just helpful information for anyone who is curious or interested or wanting more information as a precaution or in preparation for potential hospital visits in the future. Knowing that hospitalization can be a very a sudden, traumatic or chaotic experience, having this basic information in the back of your mind and the book available to reference later would be a great way to help manage the difficult situations and stresses you may face in the future. I would highly recommend this book and definitely think it is a great resource! Thank you to Booksirens and the author and publisher for giving me a chance to read this book! I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was offered this book as an ARC via NetGalley and firstly should make it clear that this is aimed at a US audience. As a UK citizen I was intrigued as to how their system works but also whether there were any suggestions and tips that would be applicable here across the pond. Now no one likes to think that they are going to end up in hospital but as someone who has spent more than their fair share of time as an inpatient there are definitely some useful hints for the 'uninitiated'. I am naturally one of those patients that keeps all my medical records documented and prepped just in case of an emergency and generally, like the author, the medical professionals I have encountered love the thoroughness of having all their questions pre-answered. Do be aware that there may always be the odd doctor that is less keen on accepting the document and likes to go through everything on their own terms! If you are not naturally organised Nugent gives a great sample document for you to use a base draft so that the task does not feel so overwhelming. Nugent sounds like a great doctor who listens to her patients to obtain the best outcomes and I agree that it is worth remembering that not every doctor is going to be on your wavelength. There are some clear differences in the medical systems between our two countries and so you will need to factor that in however most of the documents discussed do have UK equivalents that a patient can produce/procure. I would say that if you have never been an inpatient in a hospital this book is worth a read as it does give some good advice. You probably don't intend to become a hospital inpatient but you just never know when a little knowledge of how the systems work or what acronyms like MRI etc mean will come in handy!

[Courtney Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish this was around back in 2021. That is when I was hospitalized for suicidality on September 9. While in the mental health unit. I had 2 breakthrough seizures and was transferred to the medical part of the hospital on September 12 Then I was transferred back to the mental health unit on September 15 and discharged on September 20. I was never treated the way you describe in the book. In fact, the whole time I was pretty confused about what was going on and did not feel comfortable asking questions. I felt like a prisoner. If there was a book like this out back then I would have been better informed and prepared. I think the workers in the hospitals around the country need this book too because I felt like a prisoner my whole time at the hospital in 2021. Thanks for the insight and info. Thank you also for the recommendations..

[AcademicEditor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grabbed this because as a previously healthy person, I'd never had to navigate the healthcare system much, but that is changing. It is very hard to get the care you need when everyone seems to just want you to go away.

This book is written in a very friendly, comforting tone. It mainly focuses on being admitted to hospitals--what you need to plan for, what to ask, how to get through it successfully. It is super practical, and I think it will help a lot of people.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Meg Dunk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valuable Info for Patient and Family

For most, this is a refresher course for preparing for a hospital stay, but how often do we have time to prepare? Read this to know what information to have available before an emergency, to better understand what happens during a stay and why...and much more. Dr. Nugent encourages the reader to think about decisions they may face well before the need arises. Share and discuss this book with your family and friends.

[Daryl P Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful insider's view of how to think and prepare for hospital admission.

The book is written by someone calling themselves a hospitalist. Years of experience admitting, diagnosing, treating and discharging patients contribute to the advice given. It covers a variety of topics like medication history, family history and prior medical or surgical diagnosis and treatments. It's style is approachable and sections where more specific tips are written in simple language. Jargon or terminology is explained.

The roles and responsibilitiies of different people are explained and this is where some of the more generic advice is diverted into specifics of the USA system. This, together with some grammatical and copy editing errors remaining is why I have not awarded five stars.

It prompts you to think about, discuss and anticipate the event and consequences of an admission to hospital for you or a loved one. Resuscitation status, advance directives (aka living wills), palliative and hospice care as well as discharge planning and placement are all covered. All this is better done and resolved in advance rather than in a forced emergency.

I received a free advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written by a highly competent clinician. We have seen books that help kids get through stressful situations. This book is perfect for the adult that is looking at a hospitalization or are already hospitalized. Should this author write another book regarding these types of experiences, I will be the first in line to read the book.

This was an ARC that I read.

[Odette Lattimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for the advanced copy of this.

This book is primarily aimed at an American audience, that aside it a well written and informative guide about admission to hospital, from staff to what expect day to day.
This has some great tips including the naming of a family member and is an invaluable guide for family members I believe.

Well written and well put together.

Recommended

[Tabby Shiflett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to manage your (or a loved one's) hospital stay. Although this work is best for adults, it can help navigate your children's possible hospital visits as well. It's honest and positive, with a basic guideline or outline of how to best plan general hospitalizations.. I hope the author thinks about an edition specifically for kids and parents too.

GoodReads FirstReads Giveaway

[Hana Gabrielle (HG) Bidon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely recommend this book for everyone so they know how to advocate for themselves when they're at the hospital. There are plenty if useful tips you can implement in your next hospital visit for different cases whether you're at the emergency unit or elsewhere.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some useful information especially if you've never been hospitalized. Easy to understand and not a daunting read. "In compliance with FTC guidelines, I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads."

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good overall guide for someone entering the medical community for the first time. It would be helpful to someone who has enjoyed good health and suddenly found themselves in need of medical care.

[Patricia Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

EVEN if you have experienced it before, It's so good to have a concise guide to admissions, to hospitalization. You are vulnerable, emotional, and this book is a good read to help you make it a better experience for everyone, including the hospital and staff.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting book. This book is very helpful for anyone who’s had to deal with the healthcare system and I will be recommending this book.

[Erin Nott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just recently been through my first ever hospital stay (as a care giver), i found that this book was a good representation of what we experienced. I think this would be helpful for anyone unfamiliar with the process!