Hospital Waiting Rooms: 20 Survival Tips

Emergency rooms and hospital waiting rooms are dreadful places to be when a family member or friend is sick or injured. They are stressful, stultifying, and enervating—as inhospitable as can be.

But if I've learned anything from the countless hours I've logged in these palaces of purgatory, it's that a little preparation can make a big difference. I hope you never have occasion to use these tips, but I offer them as strategies for keeping what is inevitably an unpleasant experience from becoming abject misery:

1. Bring snacks. Good snacks, like nuts or fruit or energy bars. It is axiomatic that healthy food cannot be found anywhere in or near a hospital. The later it gets, the truer this is.


2. Bring change, in case you want a bad snack from the vending machine. Also handy for payphones and parking meters.


3. Bring a bottle of water. Waiting rooms can be hot and stuffy. And if you aren't eating right, it's easy to get dehydrated.


4. Bring stuff to read. Best bet is to bring an assortment—a newspaper, a magazine, a book, maybe even something from work. You may have no head for a newspaper but be in just the right frame of mind for a magazine story. Or you might want to escape into a novel for a little while.


5. Bring your phone book, in whatever form it exists. You may want or need to call family or friends.


6. Dress in layers. If the waiting room isn't hot and stuffy, it's probably cold and drafty.


7. Bring at least a one-day supply of whatever prescription and over-the-counter medications you take. It's easy to get stuck overnight, especially in the emergency room.


8. Bring an iPod or [your portable music player brand here] and a comfortable set of headphones. Waiting rooms are the natural habitats of screaming children, loud talkers, and painfully bad TV.


9. Wear comfortable shoes. Chair shortages are common.


10. Scout the bathroom options early. Know where to go when the one nearby runs out of toilet paper or is overdue for a cleaning.


11. Carry tissues and napkins. If you don't need them, someone else will.


12. If you are so inclined, bring a crossword puzzle, or your knitting, or a Sudoku book to pass the time.


13. Bring a pad and a pen. You may need to take notes when talking to a doctor, nurse, or technician. You may want to write down the phone number at the nurses' station. You may think of 10 things to add to your to-do list. Or you may just want to play hangman.


14. Bring the charger for your cell phone, even if you don't expect to need it.


15. If you wear contacts, bring your back-up pair of glasses.


16. Bring mints or breath strips.


17. Bring your appointment book, in whatever form it exists. You may need to rearrange your schedule for the following day or week.


18. Wear comfortable clothes. Think drawstring waistbands and cozy fleeces.


19. If you have a long wait in front of you, find the blood bank and donate a pint. It's one of the most constructive things you can do.


20. Keep your sense of humor. A well timed joke can break the tension and give everyone a much needed respite from all the stress.