Suggested visiting hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you need to stay beyond 8 p.m. because of your loved one's condition, you must get a visitor's badge from the charge nurse. The badge is required for both visitor and staff safety.
Children must be accompanied by an adult in the intensive care unit and in waiting rooms. Please supervise your children at all times.
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Please call into the intensive care unit from the front desk or the visitor phone in the waiting room to make sure it is a good time to visit. This helps preserve the privacy of our patients. The visitor phones are at the visitor desks on 2 West Hospital and 9 East Hospital and in the 2 East Hospital waiting room.
It is recommended that immediate family members and significant others visit in the intensive care unit. However, we understand that on occasion a good friend may be as important to the patient and will be allowed to visit. Sometimes the patient/family may want to restrict visits during the first few days of hospitalization. Please let us know if this is the case.
Generally, only children 12 and over should visit; however, exceptions can be made for special circumstances. Because it can be frightening for small children to see a loved one in the intensive care unit, we must prepare them in advance. We give them counseling and age-appropriate information before and after a visit to the intensive care unit. Children must be accompanied by an adult in the intensive care unit and in waiting rooms. Please supervise your children at all times. For information on day care, call King County Day Care Referral Service at (206) 461-3207.
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This is up to the nurse. Usually, two to three people may visit at a time, depending on the patient's condition. Please respect the nurse's judgment, but feel free to discuss with him or her if this poses a problem for the family.
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The bedside nurse will decide the length of the visit, based on your loved one's condition. You may be asked to leave the room for patient rest, doctor visits, nursing shift changes, tests and other procedures that require privacy and confidentiality. You may also be asked to leave if an urgent situation arises with another patient on the unit. Pediatric patients can have a parent or guardian at their bedside at all times.
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The bedside nurse is the best source of information about the patient. Your family spokesperson can call the intensive care unit desk for information on the condition of your loved one. Please don't give this number out to anyone else. No information will be given out over the phone to anyone but immediate family members. Please try not to call or visit from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. This is when the nursing staff changes shift.
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Small, non-breakable, low-value gifts are best.
No: Food, fresh flowers or plants.
Yes: Silk flowers, small balloons (NOT latex), pictures and cards.
Please remember there isn't much space in the intensive care unit for personal items.
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Waiting rooms are available so families and friends can take a break from a visit or wait nearby. You can find them on 2 East Hospital, near the elevators; 2West Hospital, near the intensive care unit desk; and 9East Hospital, between the Center Elevators and the intensive care unit desk. Please limit the size of groups using the waiting lounges for the comfort of everyone using them.
The waiting rooms have a phone to call the intensive care unit desk; a pay phone; and helpful information about the hospital. A few rules apply:
- No cell phones or laptop computers should be used in patient rooms. They can interfere with equipment. However, they can be used in waiting rooms.
- No overnight stays. If there are special circumstances that require you to stay, please see the nurse.
- Please respect the needs of others for a calm and quiet atmosphere.
- If you eat a snack in the waiting room, please clean up. We recommend that you eat your meals in the cafeteria.
- Please help us keep the area clean and tidy.