At our local support group meeting last week, it was noted that
hosipitalization may present a significant problem to a "parkie" who
needs to take his/her meds at a specific time. Nurses too often are late
in bringing the medication and are unaware of the importance of timeliness.
One good solution is to have your admitting physician write an order
permitting you to bring your own meds from home and to administer these
drugs yourself.
Another solution is to bring with you a Hospital Admittance Information
sheet. Such an item was distributed at our meeting and although it had
no designation as to its origin, we think it came from the United
Parkinson's Foundation, Chicago. This form, among other things, contains
the statement, "I (name), was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in
(year) by Dr. (name). To control my disease properly, I must be given
the following medications at the exact times specified. If it is not
possible for the attending staff to do this, I request the admitting
physician's authorization to administer my own medications or alternate
arrangements must be arranged with my caregiver, (name)."
The Hospital Admittance Information form goes on to say, "My
antiparkinson medication schedule is as follows:" and then provides space
to enter the names of the medication, size, number of tablets, and times
per day.
Lastly, the form calls for the signatures of the attending physician and
the head nurse, and is to be retained with your chart.
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| Sid Roberts [log in to unmask] |
| Youngstown State History Department |
| University Youngstown, OH 44555 |
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