Every year, thirty-five million Americans become hospital patients and more than fifty million surgeries are performed. Each of those patients--whatever their resources--confronts the same obstacles to good, safe care.

From a trip to the emergency room to open heart surgery, all patients can experience not just perplexing and impersonal care but serious communication and safety issues that can put them at risk. That's why The Patient's Checklist is so important. It addresses an enormous need, and yet there is no other book available that's like it. Based on firsthand knowledge, Elizabeth Bailey has created ten checklists that provide a simple system for better managing, monitoring, and participating in your hospital care. These checklists can play a big role in guarding against error and promoting compassion in care, so that a patient is not only “cured” but also “healed.”