Know your Rights
It's very important that you know all your rights when it comes to getting the care you deserve. I suggest that you have a family member or someone who is close to you contact the hospital administration and collect all the phone numbers to the day and night supervising staff as soon as possible. This way if there should be an incident during which the nursing staff should do something improper, or you should feel that they are not acting in your best interest to meet your needs, you will have other people to contact besides the head person in charge of your floor. Especially when he or she may be unwilling to cooperate with you, you'll need someone who is above them to get what you require to meet your physical needs. The nursing staff may be under staffed or too preoccupied with their break time to be bothered at that moment. This is an example where the hospital administration number comes in handy.
You may also run across "THE NURSE FROM HELL". He/she is one who requires some time off or who may just be the type of person who considers everything in life must be his/her way or no way. Doctors are the same way also. I would suggest that you have a thorough conversation with any potential doctor who may be attending to you (unless it's not an emergency situation where you have no control!). This will allow you to familiarize yourself with his/her attitude and behavior. Before allowing any potential surgeon to operate on you, do a thorough background check on his/her performance, and you may also wish to check with some of his/her former patients. In my experience, the worst time in the hospital is on the weekends when doctors have their associates fill in while they are away. These doctors tend to want to change everything and sometimes will not accept no as an answer. If this should happen to you, I suggest that you ask to speak with your primary care physician before accepting their recommendations. I've had this happen a few times. In my case, one particular doctor said that he wouldn't be working with me anymore which was fine with me. Hopefully you won't run into these types of situations!