How to Be a Patient: The Essential Guide to Navigating the World of Modern Medicine

From registered nurse and public health advocate Sana Goldberg, a timely, accessible, and comprehensive handbook to navigating common medical situations. From the routine to the unexpected, How to Be a Patient is your ultimate guide to better healthcare.

Let's face it: nobody likes going to the doctor. It can be uncomfortable, nerve wracking, expensive--and that's just for routine care! When it's an emergency--how do you choose between the ER, Urgent Care, or waiting-until-Monday? And for everything in between, how do you get an accurate diagnosis and timely treatment when something is off? In How to Be a Patient, registered nurse and outspoken public health advocate Sana Goldberg provides readers with an honest guide to the complicated and often-intimidating medical landscape.

At once a quick-reference pocket guide and a lifelong framework for approaching your healthcare, this invaluable resource empowers readers to take charge of their wellbeing. It lifts the veil on a complicated, fractured system, giving patients the tools communicate with its players and sidestep its most vexing realities. Warm and trustworthy, Goldberg's advice is as expert as it is easy-to-understand, as she calls on years of first-hand nursing experience to help readers confront challenges, take advantage of opportunities, and maximize insurance resources while fending off hidden fees that slip by unnoticed.

From setting yourself up when all is well and making the most of routine appointments, to understanding hospital culture for a more positive experience, How to Be a Patient is relevant for readers at any age. With sections including When It's An Emergency, When It's Chronic, When You Have to Stand Up to Insurance, and When It's Your Person, Goldberg ensures patients have what they need in their hands to feel informed and confident as they move through the world of modern medicine.

Containing glossaries of medical jargon, lists of free, essential screenings and unnecessary medical tests, as well as helpful appendices to assist patients in tracking their family history, prescriptions, and more, How to Be a Patient is a must-have book for anyone invested in their long-term health.

Sana Goldberg is a nurse, author, and public health advocate. A graduate of Reed College, she studied neuroscience and eventually decided to become a nurse. She's worked with cancer patients, surgical patients, and geriatric, refugee and LGBTQ populations across various settings, specializing in dual-diagnosis and women's health. In 2017 I helped open Unity Center, the first hospital on the west coast dedicated solely to mental health emergencies. I'm a contributor for the Atlantic, and the founder of Nightingale: A magazine of story, art, and activism for health equity. Her 2016 TEDxHarvard talk ""What if You Became a Nurse"" aims to draw people to the profession, and explore the public's relationship to nurses. She is also the founder of Nightingale Magazine. Beginning Fall 2018, Goldberg will pursue her nurse practitioner degree at Yale.