Your child has been admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) because he or she requires specialized, intensive medical and nursing care. A team of doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, dietitians, social workers and child life specialists will work together to care for your child. A chaplain can also be called upon your request. Please let us know if you have nay questions or concerns about your child’s care.

Our goal at Kaiser is to take the best possible care of your child. You can help us do that by familiarizing yourself to the following information.

Creating A Healing Environment

We realize it takes more than medical treatment to help your child recover from an illness or surgery. In general, , children and teens need help to cope with stressful situations, opportunities to express their feelings about being in the hospital and activities to give them a sense of normalcy and control.

We can offer your child:

• Videos, game systems, books and books on tape, magazines, puzzles, board games
• Arts and crafts
• CD players (we have a collection of relaxing music and music for young children)
• Infant toys and mobiles
• Relaxation techniques (i.e. guided imagery)

Our health care team strives to offer your child:

• A calm, quiet and comforting environment
• Respect and honesty
• Age-appropriate explanations
• Opportunities for choice, when appropriate
• Clear, age-appropriate and non-threatening language
• Participation in his/her own care, when appropriate

Again, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s plan of care. And please utilize this website to get to know your child’s team.

Family Handbook

Visitor Policy for Flu Season 2009-2010

Disclaimer
If you think you have a MEDICAL OR PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY, CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY or go to the nearest hospital. DO NOT attempt to access emergency care through this web site. An emergency medical condition is a medical or psychiatric condition that manifests itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that you could reasonably expect the absence of immediate medical attention to result in any of the following: serious jeopardy to your health, serious impairment to your bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part. An emergency medical condition is also "active labor," which means a labor when there is inadequate time for safe transfer to a Plan hospital (or designated hospital) before delivery or if a transfer poses a threat to the health of the member or unborn child.

This site may contain links to other web sites outside of www.permanente.net. Kaiser Permanente has no control over the content or the availability of these sites, and is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites. Web links are provided as an educational tool, and should not be relied upon for personal diagnosis or treatment. A link or reference to a web site should not be construed as an endorsement of the site or its contents. Any medical content that you feel may be important to your health should always be discussed with your Kaiser Permanente physician.