Safety

7 Steps to Safety in the Hospital

Reviewed by UPMC

Follow these 7 safety tips during your hospital stay

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During your stay at UPMC, we want to provide you the best care possible. You and your loved ones can help us ensure you recover quickly by following these simple safety tips.

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Follow These 7 Safety Tips During Your Hospital Stay

Follow these steps for patient safety in the hospital.

1. Wash Your Hands

Clean hands helps lower the risk of infection. Your visitors and the people who care for you at home should also frequently wash their hands.

2. Speak up if You’re in Pain

Let someone know if you are in pain or if you are having side effects from your pain medicine. Pay attention to how you feel and tell us about your symptoms.

3. Protect Your Skin

Change your position in bed often and safely move around as much as you can to prevent bed sores. Check your skin every day and try to keep it clean and dry.

4. Be Careful So You Don’t Fall

Call a nurse before getting out of bed. Get up slowly. Wear non-skid socks, slippers, or shoes that won’t slip. Clear a safe path so you have plenty of room to move around.

5. Take Your Medicine

It is important to take your medicine exactly as your doctor tells you. If you have any questions about your medicine or side effects, please ask your doctor.

6. Get Moving

Ask your nurse how soon you can safely get out of bed. Move your legs and ankles while lying down. Ask your doctor about compression devices or leg pumps to wear while in bed or sitting down to help blood flow in your legs and feet.

7. Don’t Smoke

If you smoke, talk to your doctor about quitting. Patients who don’t smoke can recover more quickly.

Ensuring Safety

You are an important part of your own care team, and we trust that you know your body better than anyone else. Always ask your health care team if you are unsure or need something explained. If you are worried about a symptom or side effect, please let us know.

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About UPMC

A $21 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates more than 90,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 700 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, and a 3.8 million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania. In the most recent fiscal year, UPMC contributed $1.4 billion in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region’s most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution, and paid more than $500 million in federal, state, and local taxes. Working in close collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC shares its clinical, managerial, and technological skills worldwide through its innovation and commercialization arm, UPMC Enterprises, and through UPMC International. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside on its annual Honor Roll of America’s Best Hospitals and ranks UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on its Honor Roll of America’s Best Children’s Hospitals. For more information, go to UPMC.com.