Being admitted to the hospital means that a patient occupies a hospital bed under the care of hospital staff. People are admitted to the hospital when they have a serious or life-threatening problem, such as a heart attack, or for less serious disorders that cannot be adequately treated in another place. The decision regarding when to admit a patient to the hospital depends on individual circumstances and the critical nature of the injury or illness.
There are different types of hospital admission, including planned and unplanned admission. A planned admission occurs when a doctor or specialist gives a referral, and how the patient is admitted depends on whether they are going to a public or private hospital, what kind of treatment they are receiving, and how urgent their treatment is. An unplanned admission occurs when a patient arrives at the hospital in their own transport or in an ambulance, and this is known as an "unplanned presentation".
Once in the hospital, the patient will stay in a hospital ward, and how long they stay in the hospital will depend on the treatment they need. For minor procedures, they may only need to stay for a day, but for ongoing treatment or major surgery, they will need to stay for longer.
It is important to note that there is a difference between being "admitted" and being "under observation" in the hospital. Being admitted means the patient is in the hospital under the care of a doctor, while being under observation means the patient is staying in the hospital but as an outpatient. Even though they spend the night, no admissions papers have been signed making them an admitted inpatient in the hospital.
