At Temiskaming Hospital, we are committed to providing you with the best health care experience. Temiskaming Hospital staff, physicians and volunteers are committed to providing a safe environment. Our patients and visitors play an important role in creating a culture of patient safety. 

1. Be involved in your care

This includes:

  • Being an active member of your health care team 
  • Taking part in every decision about your care 

2. Speak up It’s okay to ask questions about your care 

If you don’t understand the information given to you, don’t hesitate to ask to have it explained again 

For example, you may want to ask about:

  • The medical problem you have
  • Treatment or procedure you will have

3. Share your health history 

  • Tell us about your past illness and your current heath condition 

4. Know and understand your medications 

  • Some medicines combine with each other in your body and produce bad reactions. To protect you, your health care team must know about everything you take. This includes the drugs you take with a doctor’s prescription.
  • Remember to bring all you medication or a complete list with you. Ask about the reasons for all your medications. If a pill looks unfamiliar to you, don’t take it unless you know what it is. If you medication is changed, ask why. Make sure your doctors, nurses and pharmacy staff know about any allergies and adverse reactions you have had to medications, food, or environmental substance

5. Help prevent falls 

  • Falls are the leading cause of injury for seniors. Ask if you need help with going to the bathroom, getting in and out of bed, or reaching for belongings. Let others know if you feel dizzy or have fallen in the past. Use the side rails on your hospital bed. Use handrails and grab bars provided in washrooms 

6. Check for identification 

  • All Temiskaming Hospital staff, physician, volunteers, and students are required to wear a photo identification badge. 

7. Make sure staff identify you before providing care 

  • Confirm your name before you receive a treatment, procedure or medication with the care provider. They must use two methods of identification every time (name and date of birth). 

8. Respect 

  • Temiskaming Hospital is committed to the principle of having a right to a respectful environment that is free from violence and harassment. Temiskaming Hospital promotes an attitude of mutual respect between employees, professional staff, volunteers, patients and visitors to the hospital. Any act of violence or harassment committed by or against any member of our workplace or member of the public, is unacceptable conduct that will not be tolerated. 

9. During care transitions: Make sure you know what to do when you go home from the hospital 

  • When you are getting ready to go home from the hospital or after a medical treatment, ask as many questions as you can to make sure you understand what you need to do when you go home. You can write this information down or it may be helpful to have a family member or friend with you to write it down.