Sometimes one must interact with the medical system. The goal is to achieve recovery, remission and/or stability from a medical illness or life-threatening condition.
The best way to survive when entering the hospital industrial complex is to have an advocate accompany you. This is a person who agrees to be at the bedside, preferably with notepad and pen; someone you trust. The most important time for an advocate to be at the bedside is between 4-7AM (when the doctors round). This is the best time to ask questions and have respectful communication regarding treatment options, (informed choice). I have found doctors are receptive and responsive to an early morning encounter. It’s best to speak to the doctor(s) directly. Patients who have advocates receive better care.
There are also patient advocates that work within hospital networks, ask for their number(s) and call them.
It’s unclear who gave the order “COVID patients are to be denied visitors and must die alone”. This policy was an infraction against patient advocacy rights and previously held practices regarding the dignity of death and dying.
In over 20 years as a nurse, I have never witnessed patients being denied visitors, especially at the end of life. In fact, a major emphasis of my training focused on honoring the sacred oath, “humans should never die alone”. There was never an exception until COVID-19.
On November 21, 1945, in the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg, Germany, Justice Robert H. Jackson, Chief of Counsel for the United States, made his opening statement to the International Military Tribunal.
May it please Your Honors:
The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated.
https://www.roberthjackson.org/speech-and-writing/opening-statement-before-the-international-military-tribunal/
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
I know nurses with many years of experience, and they, too, say you NEED an advocate in the hospital system!
I fully agree. Perhaps just take care of ourselves better so we don't ever have to go to one unless it is a true medical emergency.