St. Jude Care & Treatment

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Inpatient Services

St. Jude offers high-quality inpatient services to meet your child’s specific medical needs.

Your child might be admitted to the hospital for inpatient treatment during their time at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Inpatient means your child will stay overnight. Your child may be admitted for one of these reasons:

  • To get chemotherapy
  • Because of fever or low blood counts
  • To manage serious side effects, such as severe nausea, vomiting, or pain 
  • After major surgery

Services we provide

The St. Jude inpatient team members are experts in caring for children with serious illnesses such as cancer, blood disorders, infectious diseases, immune disorders, and neurological disorders. We strive to provide the best care possible during your child’s admission.

Your team may include:

The hospital has 5 inpatient units. They are located in Kay Research and Care Center (KRCC) and Chili’s Care Center. 

The 2nd floor of KRCC (2 Kay) is the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Floors 3–5 of KRCC (3 Kay, 4 Kay, and 5 Kay) are other inpatient floors. The 2nd floor of the Chili’s Care Center houses the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit. 

Steven Carey

As a childhood cancer survivor himself, St. Jude Hospitalist Steven Carey, MD, PhD, builds close relationships with patients and their families.

Read his story

What to expect during your inpatient visit

At the beginning of your child’s first inpatient stay, you will be asked to read and sign the Care Partnership Agreement for Inpatient Therapy. This agreement explains what to expect from St. Jude staff and includes guidelines for you to follow during your child’s admission. If you have questions or concerns, please share them with a staff member. Staff are here to serve you and your child.

Daily routine

Patient-family centered care

  • Each morning, your child’s care team will come to your room to see your child and discuss their plan of care. This is called family-centered rounds. During rounds, you are encouraged to give feedback, offer observations about your child, ask for introductions to staff you do not know, and address any questions or concerns, including defining medical terms you do not understand. 
  • Each nurse is on the unit for 8–12 hours at a time. Before leaving, your nurse will give a full report about your child’s condition to the next nurse on duty. This report usually takes place at your child’s bedside. You are encouraged to take part and ask questions.
  • Your child’s nurse will come into the room each hour to check on your child. They may give medicines, track how much your child eats and drinks (intake) and how much they urinate or have bowel movements (output), take blood samples for lab tests, and assess their overall condition. This includes checking their pain level, position, nutrition, toileting, devices, and safety needs.
  • Your child’s nurse will give your child their medicines on a given schedule. Some medicines, such as medicines for nausea or pain, may be given as needed.
  • Use your call light any other time that you or your child needs something.

Vital signs

  • Every 2 to 4 hours, your nurse or patient care associate will come into your child’s room to take vital signs—temperature, blood pressure, respiratory (breathing) rate, and heart rate (how fast your child’s heart beats).
  • Because children need rest, staff will try not to wake your child when vital signs are taken during the night. Even so, your child must be checked this often for medical safety. 

Safety measures

Rooms and amenities

Services and support

Visitors

To protect the health of our patients, families, and staff, St. Jude has visiting guidelines. Please consult the Our St. Jude mobile app to find the most up-to-date visiting guidelines. If you have questions, ask your child’s doctor or nurse.

Learn more

Talk to your care team about any questions or concerns. If you need help right away, you may call the Rapid Response Team by dialing (4444) on any hospital room phone. Or call 901-595-4444 on your cell phone.