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Be Thoughtful When Visiting Hospitals

Abigail Aaronson -- Hospitals are places of healing. If you want to help your dear one heal quickly, plus promote peace with the other in-patients and staff, remember to mind your manners and follow these guidelines. Your presence, laced with good etiquette, will show you truly care.

Visiting friends and loved ones in hospitals is a wonderful, sensitive act. It shows you care, that you want them to feel better, and that your heart is in the right place. However, in order to be truly thoughtful, you need to follow a few rules of etiquette. After all, medical facilities are places where most individuals are in varying degrees of physical or emotional distress. The hallways and rooms inside a clinic are designed for healing. If you want to help your dear one heal quickly, plus promote peace with the other in-patients and staff, remember to mind your manners.

Visiting hours

Hospitals have visiting hours for a reason. While your friend or family member may want you there 24/7, your presence may be a bit too much for his or her roommate or others on the same ward. The hours are set for visitors so that conversations, get-togethers, and celebrations don't interfere with meals, naps, medications, and treatments. If you arrive at an off time, not only might you disturb the nurses' and the other in-patients' routines, but you might disturb your loved one's as well. Following the rules about the proper times to drop in for a visit is showing respect for all that is concerned.

Quiet voices

Of course you want to cheer up your bed-bound buddy, so you might be tempted to tell him or her jokes, pass on the latest scuttlebutt about the neighborhood, or just rile them up with happy stories. While instigating happiness is certainly a noble gesture, it's important to remember to keep your voice down. If you and the patient you're visiting start laughing hysterically, the individual who is recovering from a hernia operation in the next bed might not appreciate it much. While laughter is a healing entity in and of itself, there is also a time and a place for it. If someone down the hall is grieving or in pain, they don't want to hear a steady stream of guffawing from your pal's room.

No food smells

You may figure that the cafeteria food served up on trays in hospitals is not fitting cuisine for your loved one. You may decide to treat your relative to a large order of fried catfish and onion rings, because that is usually his or her favorite meal. Well, unfortunately, the smell of fried fish and onions can be unpleasant to those suffering from nausea or other illnesses. Instead, bring gifts that are odorless, such as books, magazines, or chocolate bars. Everyone on the ward, including your dear one, will be eternally grateful.

Hospitals are places of healing. Whether your chum is recovering from an appendectomy or she just gave birth to a newborn, you want your pal to get well quickly. It shows good manners to come calling during the appointed times, to use a subdued tone of voice, and to leave the odiferous foodstuffs for another time. If you follow these guidelines, chances are good that you'll be welcomed on the ward. Your presence, laced with good etiquette, can show you truly care.

Abigail is an experienced healthcare professional who has been writing about health and beauty issues for many years of her life. She loves to inform people about plastic surgery procedures so that people know what they are getting into before they make such a commitment. Planning on visiting loved ones in hospitals in New Orleans? Learn more about how to be courteous on your visit at: http://www.ejgh.org.

© 2014 Abigail Aaronson

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