Most people pack for the hospital the way they pack for a trip they didn't plan. Fast, scared, and with three phone chargers and no insurance card.
If you're reading this the night before a planned surgery, take a breath. If you're reading it on a calm Tuesday because your dad's health has been slipping, even better. Either way, this is the list I wish every patient walked in with.
Bring these first. They matter more than anything else in the bag.
These are the things the admissions desk and your nurse will ask for in the first hour. Have them in one pocket or one folder.
- Photo ID. A driver's license or state ID.
- Insurance cards. Your health plan card, and your prescription plan card if it's separate. Medicare and Medicaid cards count here too.
- A current medication list. Name, dose, how often, and what it's for. Include over-the-counter pills, vitamins, and supplements. Add the prescribing doctor if you know it.
- Your allergies. The drug, and what happened. "Penicillin, hives" is far more useful than "I think I'm allergic to something."
- Names and numbers. Your emergency contact, your primary care doctor, and your pharmacy.
If you have them, add these:
- A copy of your advance directive or living will, and your medical power of attorney.
- Recent test results, X-rays, or records, if your doctor asked you to bring them.
- Any referral or pre-admission paperwork you already filled out.
About your pill bottles
Many hospitals ask you not to bring your medications. They want the list instead. The hospital pharmacy supplies what you take while you're there, so they know exactly what's going in.
No list? Then bring the bottles in a bag. A nurse or pharmacist will check them against what you take. Then they're either sent to the hospital pharmacy for safekeeping until discharge, or a family member takes them home. Policies vary, so if you have a planned admission, call ahead and ask.
One nurse request: don't take your own pills from home while you're admitted unless your care team says so. Doubling up on a blood pressure pill is not the hospital experience you're looking for.
Pack for comfort, not for a vacation
Rooms are small and storage is smaller. Keep it light.
- Glasses, hearing aids, dentures, and their cases. Put your name on all of them. These get lost on hospital trays more often than anyone likes to admit.
- A CPAP machine, if you use one at night.
- Non-slip socks or supportive slippers, and a robe.
- Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, comb.
- Comfortable clothes to go home in. Loose ones, especially after surgery.
- A phone charger with a long cord. Outlets live in strange places behind hospital beds.
- Something to pass the time. A book, headphones, a crossword.
Leave these at home
Hospitals are busy, rooms change, and things walk away. Leave behind:
- Jewelry, including wedding rings and watches.
- Extra cash and extra credit cards. Bring only what you need for parking or a co-pay, then send the rest home with family.
- Laptops and anything else you'd be crushed to lose.
- Appliances like a TV, gaming console, microwave, coffee pot, or slow cooker. Hospitals don't allow them in patient rooms because they're a fire hazard.
If you arrive with valuables anyway, ask your nurse. Many hospitals can lock them up with security and return them at discharge.
The thing nobody packs: a person
The most useful thing you can bring isn't in the bag. It's one person who knows your story.
Pick your advocate before the day comes. Make sure they know your medications, your allergies, and what you'd want if you couldn't speak for yourself. Then handle the boring stuff at home: pet care, child care, the mail, the bills that will come due while you're gone.
Put the important part on your phone
The folder can get left in the car. Your phone usually comes with you.
Admission Alley keeps the first-hour list in one place: medications, allergies, emergency contacts, your doctor, and code status, for you and for the people you care for. It's free, works without cell service, and nothing is stored anywhere but your phone. When the nurse asks, you tap once and hand it over.
You can't plan the day you get admitted. You can plan what you walk in with. That's enough to make the hardest day a little less hard.
Admission Alley is a hospital admission preparedness app built by a Nurse Practitioner. This post is for informational purposes and is not a substitute for medical advice. Always follow your own hospital's instructions.