Dear Parent/Caregiver,

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.

PICU Visiting Information

Parent and primary caregivers may visit around the clock, but please, no more than 2 visitors per bedside. Visiting hours for other adult visitors are 8AM to 8PM daily. There might be times when we ask you to step temporarily out of the unit. Generally, these times are during nursing shift change (7:15AM to 7:45AM, 3:15PM to 3:45PM, and 11:30PM to midnight).

Brothers and sisters of the patients may visit but must be under the supervision of an adult at all times. To better prepare your children, we encourage you to talk with the Child Life Specialist before bringing them to visit. A Child Life Specialist is trained to help children understand what they will see in a specialized setting like a PICU.

Please wash your hands before and after visiting your child. Visitors should not come if they have a cold, fever, rash, or have been exposed to any infectious diseases. Please check with your child’s nurse if you are not feeling well.

Visitors are asked not to eat or drink at the patient’s bedside. Space for small amounts of perishable food will be provided in the refrigerator outside the PICU.

Please note: It is up to the discretion of the health care team to determine if you may be present during physician rounds, nursing change of shift report, procedures, admission of new patients, or emergency situations.

Overnight Stays

Only one parent/caregiver may sleep overnight in our Parent Lounge on the west side of the 10th floor. A shower is available for your use. Due to space limitations, you will not be able to sleep in the PICU with your child.

Telephones

Please use the phone outside the PICU door to request permission to enter. Cell phones are not permitted in the PICU.

The nurse and doctors will be glad to talk on the telephone with parents or primary caregivers about your child’s condition or answer any questions about his/her treatment or illness. We suggest that one person in your family be assigned to share information with others who are concerned about your child. This will help keep the lines of communication open, protect your family’s confidentiality, and allow the nurse more time to care for your child.

Please call (510) 752-PICU (7428) to inquire about your child’s progress. Please do not call during the hours when the nurses change shift (7:15AM to 7:45AM, 3:15PM to 3:45PM, and 11:30PM to midnight).

Restrooms

For your convenience, there is a public restroom on the west side of the 10th floor. Additional restrooms are located on the first floor.

Items From Home

We encourage you to bring a few selected items for your child from home. A special blanket, stuffed animal, toy or game may make it easier for your child to feel comfortable in an unfamiliar environment.

For your child’s safety and allow us the necessary space to care for you child, we do not allow balloons and flowers in the PICU.

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)
• Pet therapy

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.

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.