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A Guide to Your Pediatric Stay

California Pacific Medical Center welcomes you to our Pediatric areas, either the Pediatric Unit or Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), both located at our Women & Children's Center on the California Campus. Our approach is based on the concept of family-centered care with the belief that the family is a child's primary source of strength and support. Therefore, we encourage you to participate in your child's care. We acknowledge that you know your child better than anyone else and ask that you help us make your child's hospital experience as comfortable as possible.

We understand a hospital admission is stressful. Your child's illness as well as the hospital environment, many new faces and medical procedures contribute to this stress. We hope the following information familiarizes you with our Pediatric Units and services. Please feel free to ask us questions and let us know how we can help you.

Pediatric Unit - 5th Floor

Rooms and rooming-in
We provide rooming-in accommodations for one parent. Cots and sleep chairs are available for use at the bedside. If you have special accommodation needs, please speak with your nurse. We will try to be as accommodating as possible.

There are also apartments and other local lodgings for family members. A social worker can help you make arrangements to use these resources.

Every effort is made to provide a comfortable environment for our patients and families. Circumstances sometimes require patients to share a room. Careful consideration of medical and non-medical issues is given to room assignments. Please talk to your nurse if you have concerns. We ask that everyone be sensitive to patients' and families' needs for quiet and privacy.

Visiting
Hospital visiting hours are until 8:00 pm. Visiting on the Pediatrics Unit is somewhat more flexible than other units because of our emphasis on family-centered care. However, we ask that only healthy people visit, only family members remain on the unit after 8 p.m., and everyone is sensitive to patients' and families' needs for quiet and privacy. An adult must accompany visiting children at all times; staff cannot be responsible for them. In order to promote rest and healing, we ask that all patients and parents be in their own rooms by 10 p.m.

Patient Safety
We want to provide a safe environment for your child's care and treatment while in the Pediatric Unit. Please be aware that all staff caring for your child wear photo identification badges as well as other identification indicating they work on the Pediatric Unit. We will update you further on our patient safety procedures upon admission.

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit - 3rd Floor

Rooms and Rooming-in
Rooming-in accommodations and sleeping at the bedside are not available in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) due to the critically ill nature of the children. If you have special accommodation needs, please speak with your nurse and we will try to be as accommodating as possible.

There are also apartments and other local lodgings for family members. A social worker can help you make arrangements to use these resources.

Visiting
Intensive care visiting hours are until 8:00 p.m. Visiting in the PICU is somewhat more flexible than on other units because of our emphasis on family-centered care. However, we ask that that a maximum of two visitors are at the bedside at one time, only healthy people visit, only family members remain on the unit after 8:00 p.m., and everyone is sensitive to patients' and families' needs for quiet and privacy. An adult must accompany visiting children at all times; staff cannot be responsible for visiting children. There is a waiting room adjacent to the PICU.

All visitors are asked to leave during the following times in order to maintain patient confidentiality:

Physician rounds at 9 a.m.

Nursing shift change (times vary)

Patient procedures or emergencies

PICU staff will notify you when you may return.

Patient Safety
While a patient in PICU, we want to provide a safe environment for the care and treatment of your child. Please be aware that all staff caring for your child wear photo identification badges. Please do not release your child to anyone for tests or procedures unless he or she is wearing this identification, and your child's nurse is aware of any off unit tests or procedures.

Pediatric Services

Child Life and the Playroom
Hospitalization, medical procedures, illness and pain are often fearful times for children. CPMC supports children and their family through our Child Life program. The Child Life staff are certified specialists trained to deal with your child's concerns and reactions to the hospital and his or her illness. Our goal is to minimize stress and promote healthy growth and development during hospitalization. We will help you and your family understand what is happening through education, medical play and activities.

Age-appropriate toys and activities are available for infants, children, adolescents, and siblings in the playroom and teen lounge; an adult must supervise children at all times in the playroom. Individual bedside activities are provided for children who are unable or unwilling to come to the playroom.

Medical play allows children to learn about appropriate medical equipment, express their feelings and become more confident about their hospital experience. Medical play and teaching prior to procedures and surgery help reduce a child's anxiety and also provide the opportunity to clarify any misconceptions children may have regarding the hospital and their illness. Children gain a sense of control by knowing what to expect and are assisted in developing helpful coping strategies.

Child Life specialists and Child Life volunteers are available Monday through Saturday. Please ask the pediatric staff to contact them for you.

Pain
Pain scales can help us evaluate the level of pain your child is experiencing. These visual diagrams are available in each room and used to help manage patients' pain. We will work with you to keep your child as comfortable as possible. Please let us know how we can help.

Interdisciplinary team
A specially trained interdisciplinary team has been assembled to meet you and your child's needs. Members of this team include physicians, nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, dietitians, case managers, pastoral care, Child Life specialists, pharmacists, and respiratory, speech, physical, and occupational therapists.

Please let us know of your questions and concerns and we will do our best to assist you. We look forward to caring for your child and working with you and your family.

Laundry Room
A washer and dryer available for your use; you will need to provide your own laundry supplies.

Family Room
The family room is set aside for pediatric families. This lounge is furnished with a television, microwave, stove and refrigerator. We encourage you to use this room for your family needs.

Food
A special "kid-friendly" menu is available for pediatric patients. Please inform staff if your child needs alternate selections

Let us know if you are a lactating mother and we will order you a meal tray.

The cafeteria is always open but hot food hours may vary. Please refer to postings in the cafeteria.

Telephones
Please have friends and family reach you by calling your room directly. The main hospital number is 415-600-6000. To reach the staff in the PICU please or Pediatric Unit call the main hospital number.

By law, we can give patient information to only the mother and father.

Other Programs and Areas of Interest

California Pacific's Institute for Health and Healing™ also offers resources which may be of interest during your child's stay. The Health and Healing Resource Center, located on the corner of Sacramento and Webster Sts., provides access to educational materials including medical literature, health publications and a collection of video and audio tapes on various medical conditions. The Resource Center also provides, for a fee, comprehensive information packets relevant to one's health situation. For wellness and healing products, visit The Healing Store. Its entrance is on Webster St., between Sacramento and California Sts. The Healing Store provides vitamins and nutritional supplements, tapes and CDs, journals and body care products.

The Pediatric Patients' Bill of Rights

Children and their families, no matter if they are a boy or girl, what color their skin is, what language they speak, what money or insurance they have, or where they are from, will be treated the same while in the hospital. Everyone at CPMC will try to make this a better place for you while you are sick.

Children have the same rights as adults but some things are special. We understand a child's perspective. Please:

Call me by my name.

Greet me with a smile and treat me with care, respect, and understanding.

Evaluate me carefully and promptly.

Tell me who you are and how you will help me.

Meet my basic needs. Make sure I am clean, comfortable and without restraints whenever possible.

Keep my daily routine as normal as possible. Let me sleep, play and do my schoolwork without interruption. When my family and friends are visiting, give us privacy.

When you schedule my tests and procedures, consider how long I will have to be without food and drink.

Give me as many choices as possible and help me to understand when I don't have a choice.

I may cry. I may be afraid. I may be angry. Help me to express my feelings.

I may have pain. Show me the face scale so I can tell you how much. Ask me and my family what will help me and make sure it does.

I need my family with me.

If I do not speak English, provide my family and me with an interpreter.

Help me understand what is happening to me and prepare me for procedures. Answer my questions in words that make sense to me.

Give information about me only to people who need it to take care of me.

Please don't talk about me when I can hear you unless it is something you want me to know.

Send me home as soon as possible with the teaching my family and I need.

My family and I need to know the hospital rules.

If my family or I have a concern, you will help to fix it.

And to keep me safe…

When I leave my room, I will wash my hands, wear shoes or slippers and put on a mask if others can catch my germs.

I will leave the floor only if an adult is with me, and I will tell my nurse where I am going.

I will be in a room by 10 p.m. and be quiet so that others can sleep. If I have germs others can catch, I will only be in my own room and never someone else's.

I will not run in the halls, ride wheeled objects, or be really loud.