During Your Visit > Making Your Stay Easier

Whether it is your child's first hospitalization or he or she is a hospital veteran, the experience can be stressful for the entire family. Parents play an important role in helping their child feel comfortable, and children often take their cues from their parents. In order to help your child adjust to a hospital stay, it is important for you to feel comfortable as well. Be sure you seek out the help and support you need, in addition to helping your child prepare.

When you visit the hospital it is important to keep up with familiar activities such as bathing, dressing, feeding, reading and playing so there is as little disturbance as possible to regular routines. Your child's nurse will welcome you to your room and give you a tour of the unit so that you know where everything is located and how to find someone if you have a question or need assistance. Please feel free to ask the staff any questions that you may have.

One thing you might want to consider is bringing a notebook so that you can jot down questions you and your child may have during your visit. When you meet with your child's attending doctor or nurse, you may be overwhelmed by questions and concerns and forget what you want to ask. Here are some suggestions for questions to ask:

Diagnosis

• Do you have written information that I can use to learn more about my child's special health care needs?

Treatment

• Can you explain what treatments my child needs and/or what will be done today?
• Who do I call if I have questions about my child's health care?
• When and how will I learn about my child's test results?
• Will my child be in a lot of pain? If so, how can I help my child deal with this?
• Will my child need to take pain medicine to deal with the pain?

Medicine

• What type of medicine is my child receiving? What is the medicine for?
• How often will my child need to take this medicine and at what time each day? Should it be taken with or without food?
• How long will my child need to take the medicine?
• What side effects may occur and how do you deal with them? Who do I tell if my child experiences any side effects while I am visiting?

Nutrition

• Are there certain foods my child cannot have while in the hospital?
• What kinds of food would you recommend I bring to my child when I visit?

Support

• Are there any support groups where I can connect with other parents who have children with similar health conditions?