Medical surgeries and treatments are either classified as inpatient and outpatient care. Inpatient care is where a patient gets admitted to the hospital to receive specialized care from doctors and other medical professionals, while outpatient care refers to any medical care provided at a facility or clinic that is not a hospital.
When it comes to inpatient care, the length of a patient’s stay in the hospital depends on the severity of their condition, be it one night or several weeks. Usually, inpatient care is necessary for patients suffering from severe and life-threatening conditions, and remaining in the hospital allows for close observation.
But what are the different types of inpatient care services? Here’s an outline of five common examples of inpatient care.
1. Childbirth
Childbirth is a very complicated event that requires qualified professionals to ensure the best possible outcome for both parent and baby. And because labor can last for anywhere between one hour to over a day, inpatient care is often needed during childbirth. In some cases, cesarean section is deemed necessary to safeguard the wellbeing of both the child and the parent. Because of this, the need for qualified personnel to deliver childbirth care has increased in recent times in the hospital, click here to see one such reliable health facility.
Giving birth at the hospital allows parents to get not only great care but also to have a high level of professional service provided by the medical team. This is why specialist hospitals and centers have been established to care for pregnant people going through childbirth and to provide them with the best possible support and assistance. As a result, both the parent and baby are guaranteed to get the best possible care. On the other hand, while some parents are well taken care of in hospitals, some may experience dissatisfaction, traumatic experiences, and birth injuries affecting their babies. Therefore, for families facing challenges such as birth injuries, looking for HIE attorneys can offer legal expertise and support to help navigate complex legal processes and protect the rights of families affected by birth-related complications.
When looking at different types of inpatient childbirth care, it’s important to look at the services available to you as a patient. You should also make sure that all your needs are met within your specific time frame. In these situations, a consultant may be able to make recommendations for you on this matter, or your doctor may assist you in making these decisions.
2. Complex Surgeries
Following a complex surgery—including bypass surgeries of gastric organs or the heart, organ transplant, and lung surgeries—inpatient care will be mandatory. This is because you’re still in a fragile state right after these surgeries and predisposed to complications. While you are admitted to the medical facility, a team of medical professionals can observe your progress closely.
When preparing yourself for surgery, you should go to a hospital with an inpatient surgery wing or a rehabilitation facility that offers the required type of surgery. Following a complex operation, a patient is required to stay in the hospital entirely and, in some cases, is assigned regular nursing staff to take care of them.
For patients who’ve shown great progress following a complex surgery, they can be taken out of inpatient care and to outpatient care after some time. The patient can then choose from several different types of outpatient care available following a surgery. However, because complex surgeries involving serious medical issues may take even longer to recover from, extended inpatient care ensures you get the necessary level of care.
3. Addiction Treatment Care
Many people think that inpatient care refers only to inpatient treatment in a health care center or hospital. However, this is a wide misconception because there are many types of inpatient care available for persons suffering from conditions such as substance abuse. These patients are placed under strict monitoring at these rehabilitation services to ensure they don’t engage in any substance abuse.
Other than getting the needed medical care, these patients also get emotional support to help them remain motivated towards achieving their goal of living a drug-free life. All this is done while keeping the patients safe from the possible triggers that might lead to a relapse. Thanks to the care provided at these rehabilitation centers, these patients can go back to live and work normally.
An inpatient addiction treatment involves several programs, including:
- Detox: This is the first step towards freeing the patient’s body from the addictive substances. People who have abused substances over a long duration should expect to experience some withdrawal symptoms such as sweating, muscle pain, anxiety, and nausea. Therefore, inpatient care entails safe detoxification since, in some cases, these withdrawal symptoms can be life-threatening. But when under inpatient care, both psychiatric and medical staff will be monitoring you to ensure the detox is done safely.
- Individual therapy: After the detox is complete, you’ll now be taken through intense individual counseling and psychotherapy sessions. During these meetings, you’ll get to learn about your unhealthy behavior patterns, past traumas, and triggers, all of which have resulted in your addiction.
- Group therapy: The last part of addiction treatment care is group therapy. This usually involves sessions with other members in the inpatient facility who’re also struggling with addiction. During these sessions, you get to build meaningful relationships, develop a sense of routine and structure, and create a supportive environment.
An inpatient rehabilitation facility should provide a holistic approach to treatment of and recovery from addictions.
4. Psychiatric Inpatient Care
Patients who have a serious psychiatric illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, sometimes cannot live alone and require daily medical care. Many psychiatric hospitals offer this type of medical care. At these facilities, patients get not only a place to live but also the necessary medication to help them get better. Other short-term facilities give patients a chance to live at home while receiving ongoing treatment. Usually, most of the psychiatric inpatient care facilities offer both inpatient and outpatient care. Psychiatric inpatient care is essential in helping patients dealing with severe depression, brain injury, or any other mental health disorder.
5. Serious Medical Conditions
Some serious health conditions—including seizures caused by brain damage, respiratory issues necessitating incubation, and comas—require inpatient care. This is necessary because it allows the team of medical professionals to look after you and guarantee your wellbeing in a way that is not possible at home or smaller clinics. Hospitals have the appropriate machinery, technology, and supplies to sustain and care for patients in the most dire of straits.
Levels of Inpatient Care
Now that you know some examples of inpatient care, it’s also important to know of the different levels involved. The level of inpatient care is usually categorized as specialized care that requires a qualified health care provider to monitor the patient. This includes skilled nursing and surgical care, with medical staff that has been trained to administer a wide range of medical treatments and surgical operations, including pain management and respiratory support in various stages of medical illness. In addition to the hospital units, inpatient care is also offered at rehabilitation centers, drug, alcohol, or other centers. This is offered because such patients usually need to remain ‘in house’ for a significant period of time to recover.
Here’s an overview of the three levels of inpatient care;
- Acute care: This type of care is administered to patients who need quick and direct treatment for a severe or critical illness. Such illnesses or medical problems could include heart attacks, strokes, trauma, infections, and severe injuries. This is why acute care nursing has become a very specialized job in many hospitals or nursing homes.
- Intermediate care: Intermediate care is the type of care offered to patients suffering from various medical conditions who may not need to be admitted to a hospital, excepting special circumstances. These include various psychological disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. These patients often require ongoing medical assistance to keep them stable. Surgical patients will also need to be under the supervision of a specialist doctor when they are admitted.
- Chronic care: This level of care is administered to patients in need of long-lasting and continued medical care. Some of the illnesses that require chronic care include asthma, COPD, high blood pressure, diabetes, and arthritis. Examples of long-term care facilities that carry out chronic care include assisted living facilities and skilled nursing facilities.
Why Should You Choose an Inpatient Treatment Program?
Getting impatient care is advantageous in allowing you to get better quickly. Here are some of the reasons why you should consider getting inpatient care:
- It ensures you get to recover in a controlled and safe environment under the close supervision of a qualified medical team.
- You’re provided with 24/7 support from medical experts to promote your recovery.
- There are fewer temptations and distractions, which might trigger a relapse for patients trying to recover from addiction.
- Enjoy stability that wouldn’t be achievable with outpatient care.
Takeaway
Impatient care is deemed necessary for treating any medical condition that’s deemed severe enough by health professionals. This is because it allows these professionals to closely monitor you and ensure you’re showing positive progress. Only then can you be allowed to switch to outpatient care. This exhaustive guide has discussed the most common examples you need to know as well as the levels of inpatient care and why you should consider an inpatient treatment program.