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PEOPLE WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY IN HOSPITALS: DOCTORS AND NURSES

Doctors make their rounds at fairly specific times. Because doctors are not mind readers, make sure you have your questions or concerns at hand when they visit. Some patients are reluctant to ask questions or present problems. Remember that your concerns help the doctors to focus on your specific issues and to have a more informed view so that they can make more educated decisions.You’ll interact with and receive care from a number of doctors, including orthopedists (specialists in the muscular and skeletal systems), neurosurgeons (surgeons who operate on the nervous system), and physiatrists (specialists in physical rehabilitation, who usually lead the rehabilitation team). You’ll encounter doctors at various levels of training and experience, especially if you are in a teaching hospital. After graduating from medical school, doctors do a residency for several years. During this time they learn to practice a specialty and are called residents. First-year residents are sometimes called interns. Residents are on call in the hospital at all times, especially at night!Nursing care is an especially important consideration for people with spinal cord injury, because the care required is usually more intense and frequent than for other patients. The nursing staff includes individuals with differing levels of training and experience. Registered nurses (RNs) usually have the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree and carry management responsibility for the floor or ward. Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) have graduated from shorter courses and do much of the hands-on work. Other members of the nursing staff (such as aides, assistants, and technicians) have less training and carry out most of the bathing, toileting, and feeding duties.Nursing care has changed over time, partly as the result of cost-cutting in this era of managed care. You can no longer expect the comforting extras, such as a back rub at night. However, your relationship with your nurse is still likely to be one of your closest connections with hospital staff, because he or she will provide so much of your personal care. Your nurse can be a good source of information about various aspects of spinal cord injury.
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