Hello-

I am looking for books, websites, and any other type of media that
deals with visiting ill patients in the hospital (how to act, how to
support them, when to end the visit, etc...).  I am going to market a
small book on the subject and so I am looking for any and all of the
competition.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 11 Aug 2003 14:41 PDT

If you want a comprehensive, thorough answer, I suggest that you
consider raising your price. As it now stands, a Researcher will earn
only $3.75 by answering your question. Searching for the kind of
information that you need takes quite a bit of time. You say you are
looking for "any and all" media on this subject; at the price point
you've set, you may expect to get one or two links.

The Google Answers Pricing Guide:

$2 - $5  ·  Can be answered with a single link or a single piece of
information. Sometimes, if a researcher is personally interested in
the question's subject, they may provide a longer answer.
  ·  Not appropriate for multipart questions. 
  ·  Only 60% of the questions asked in this price range are answered.

http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html

Dear uleaw00, 

Here are several inspirational and helpful Websites and books. Since
visiting a sick person and cheering him up is considered a good deed
in Judaism, many sites are Jewish religious ones. However, the advices
there are applicable also in non-Jewish (or non-religious) settings:

HOSPITAL VISITING - Do's and Don't's - Diocesan Synod of Nova Scotia
and Prince Edward Island Website
<http://www.nspeidiocese.ca/ministry/visiting.htm>

Jewish Learning Visiting the Sick The Jewish Virtual Library
<http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Judaism/sick.html>

Mitzvah Mania: Bikur Cholim Project: Visiting the Sick
<http://www.geocities.com/kehillatmoriah/rs.htm>

Visiting the sick <http://www.jewishmag.co.il/61mag/visitsick/visitsick.htm>

Islam: Visiting the Sick
<http://www.hudaschool.regina.sk.ca/clip/40-end.pdf>


Books: 

Lay Shepherding: A Guide for Visiting the Sick, the Aged, the Troubled
and the Bereaved by Rudolph E. Grantham (for adults)

A Thoughtful Word, a Healing Touch: A Guide for Visiting the Sick
by Joseph M. Champlin, Susan Champlin Taylor (Christian)

Get Well Soon - A Lesson of Bikur Cholim by Dina Rosenfeld (Jewish,
for children)

Visiting the Sick: A Guide for Parish Ministers  by Patti Normile

If Theres Anything I Can Do: An Easy Guide to Showing You Care 
by Susan McClelland, et al  

Visiting the Sick & Elderly
by William Weir 

I hope this list helps. I used search terms such as [visiting a sick
friend OR relative] in order to find sources. If you need any further
clarifications on this answer, please let me know before you rate/tip
it.

For your book, be sure to include a thing about HIPAA.  HIPAA is the
patient privacy law that was enacted to protect ultimately...patient
privacy.  The law has been strongly enforced recently and hospital
employees (including volunteers) have to be trained in protecting a
patient's privacy. Upon the patient's request, every hospital employee
is entrusted to protect the privacy and only request information of a
patient on a need-to-know basis.  If the employee violates a patient's
privacy, then he/she may be fined, terminated, or face jail time.

HIPAA involves visiting ill patients at the hospital a great deal.  If
you call the emergency department of a hospital and ask if a certain
person is there, the ED clerk will not tell you because it jeopardizes
the patient's right to a private healthcare.  That is unless the
patient declares if the hospital visit is private or not.

Here's a link to more info on HIPAA:
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/