Q
Any other tips?
A
Put policies and procedures in place that show sensitivity to the
lives your patients are living. For example, I cannot walk at all.
So to me, my mobility devices are not just devices. They are my legs.
If you take away my wheelchair, you literally are taking away my legs.
So if I wake up in a recovery room, I'm going to immediately ask,
"Where's my wheelchair?" Once, my husband parked my chair in a
movie theater and someone took it, thinking it was for the public to
use. I was panicked. If someone is going to take my wheelchair away
temporarily, I want to know where it will be stored and that the per-
son who is moving it knows how to operate it.
Disabilities are diverse, and what works to accommodate one disabili-
ty might not be sufficient for persons with another disability. But in gen-
eral, the same basic principles are true: Providers need to communicate
effectively with patients prior to procedures and make sure they under-
stand how to make them comfortable and provide high-quality care.
For example, if someone with a hearing impairment wakes up and
can't locate her hearing aids, that patient is not going to be able to
understand what the nurses say.
Healthcare providers sometimes strap a patient's arms to the gurney.
Imagine what that would be like if you were an American Sign
Language (ASL) speaker and your only method of communication is
signing. You have lost your ability to communicate. Some facilities
don't have personnel proficient in signing, and they ask the patient to
write notes. They don't realize that 75% of people whose first language
is ASL are not proficient in English. Also, writing is really difficult
when you are just coming out of anesthesia. Many healthcare facilities
have had to settle ADA lawsuits because they didn't provide an ASL
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