Caregiver Tip #5

“Have a clock clearly visible to the patient. When recovering, a five-minute nap might feel like five hours. It will help the patient feel oriented.”

When recovering from a serious medical incident, it is very confusing for the patient.  Being immobile makes even the simplest task difficult.  When I would sleep, it was induced by either drugs or exhaustion.  It would feel like I had been asleep for hours, when it may have only been a few minutes before pain abruptly pulled me into consciousness.

Knowing what time it was was strangely comforting.  I was constantly doing flawed math in my head.  Being able to see a clock at all times helped me with clarity.  Simple but important.

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