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Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide to
Get Your Loved One Out Alive by Martine Ehrenclou, M.A. Lemon Grove Press
book review by Elizbeth Loveland
"You have a right to ask questions and feel comfortable with the medical care provided. Make sure your loved one is comfortable as well."
Critical Conditions by Martine Ehrenclou is a structured guidebook for those with a loved one in an American hospital. The slim opening chapter illustrates why being a medical advocate is necessary. The following group of chapters explains the basic facts around how to begin being a medical advocate, how to deal successfully with primary nurses and doctors, and how to try to prevent medical errors, infectious diseases, and fatal falls. Another group of chapters dispenses advice for specific issues, such as dealing with language barriers and being an out-of-town advocate. The book's main text closes with a third group of chapters that includes information on not only supporting a loved one but also taking care of oneself. The back of the book includes extensive charts and supplemental information for keeping track of the extensive information given to hospitalized people and how to look up unfamiliar terms.
This book is an excellent beginning guide for loved ones that are new to the hospitalization process or feel that they want to be better advocates than they have been. Ehrenclou is a layperson, not a doctor, and writes in a clear and concise style free of the complicated medical jargon that often populates similar books. Each chapter's guidelines are broken down into clear steps, which will be especially appreciated by stressed, overwhelmed loved ones. The extensive blank charts will be of great use for tracking a variety of things, including the patient's medical care and progress, and ways that the loved one can help take good care of themselves. Being a medical advocate is critical, but it does not have to be tough sentence for the patient or family.