How to Help a Friend During a Hospital Stay

Sometimes you may have close friends or family members that are at the hospital for an extended length of time.

As a friend, there are some things you can do to help your friend in this time of crisis. Especially if they are at the hospital as the primary caregiver of the patient.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Desire to help friend

1. DISCERN THE NEEDS OF YOUR FRIEND AND THEIR FAMILY
   
   Imagine if you were at the hospital off and on for a week because your father was ill. There would be things that would need to be done at home or at work.
   
   Think about what you can do to help this family in need - this will depend on how close your friendship is as well.

2. BEST FRIENDS/FAMILY IN CRISIS
   
   As "best friends" or sisters, you can do anything you want to and the help would be appreciated.
   
   You could offer to:
   * Babysit
   * Pet sit
   * Clean the house
   * Check and go through mail
   * Make sure the car is full of gas as needed
   * Take some time to sit at the hospital while they go home and shower
   * Call close friends with updates

3. CLOSE FRIENDS/NEIGHBORS
   
   Close friends, make sure your friend and family is fed and cared for.
   
   When my Dad was sick in the hospital my parents neighbors made sure we had food to eat. Fresh tomatoes for sandwiches, chilled cantaloupe, soup and corn bread muffins, meatloaf were just a few of the things.
   
   It was a pleasure after spending the day at the hospital to come home to a meal without worrying about what we were going to eat.

4. CO-WORKERS/CHURCH MEMBERS/CASUAL FRIENDS
   
   Those visits during the day were always wonderful.
   
   We called "popcorn visits" people would often pop in, and pop out. Some would bring gifts and treats, change for the snack machine or coffee shop.

5. SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER
   * It is not practical to send flowers to a person in Intensive Care. This is an item the family member will need to keep up with.
   * Some people may be overwhelmed with a lot of visitors. Think of how you are helping (or hurting) with visits.

Resources

• ABC - Grey's Anatomy - Patients, no friends
• FOX - House - Doctor, no patience

[megan123ut]

on 7/21/2009 I've found it is sometimes little services that are most appreciated when I've been in the hospital. There are some great ideas in this article! I also have some specific examples on my blog: http://inneedofcomfort.blogspot.com/

[ReuseItAll]

on 5/6/2009 All great ways to help a friend in need!! Thanks!

[turtledove]

on 4/30/2009 We've probably all had to deal with this a few times. Thanks. 5*

[KMello]

on 4/12/2009 Very useful how to. 5*

[goodselfme]

on 2/16/2009 well written post!