Your Child in the Hospital: A Practical Guide for Parents

Millions of parents take their child to the hospital each year for stitches, outpatient surgery, or longer stays for serious illnesses. Your Child in the Hospital: A Practical Guide for Parents is packed with sensible tips and home-grown wisdom that will make any visit to the hospital easier. It explains how cope with procedures, plan for surgery, communicate with doctors and nurses, and deal with insurance companies. Woven throughout the text are dozens of practical and encouraging stories from parents who have been through the experience of having a child in the hospital. This new edition contains a packing list, hospital journal for children, and helpful resources for parents.

Nancy Keene, a well-known writer and advocate for hospitalized children, has written and co-authored twelve consumer health books on topics ranging from childhood illnesses to working with your doctor. Her work has appeared in many publications, including Reader’s Digest, Journal of the American Medical Association, Exceptional Parent, and Coping magazine. She served as chair of the patient advocacy committee of a consortium of 350 children's hospitals and on a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) committee that reviewed medications given to ill children. Ms. Keene has been interviewed on National Public Radio (NPR), frequently speaks to professional and parent groups, and has participated in online support groups for parents of ill children since 1996.