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Medicine Room Guidelines

The Medicine Room staff wants your child’s stay to be safe and pleasant. These guidelines can help you prepare for your time with us. If you have any questions about the guidelines, please talk to a Medicine Room nurse or the hospital’s nursing coordinator on duty.

  • After you leave your child’s clinic appointment, please sign in at the patient representative’s desk just outside the Medicine Room. This lets the staff know that your child is waiting. Because of limited space and privacy needs, please stay in the waiting area until you are notified that it is time for your child to come to the Medicine Room. The Medicine Room staff will notify you as soon as they have the doctor’s order and materials to treat your child.
  • If a medicine or blood product can be given in less than 2 hours, the staff will place your child in one of the reclining chairs. This leaves the beds open for the many patients who will have long treatments.
  • When in the Medicine Room, please remember that staff members depend on you to continue to provide care to your child, such as diaper changes, feedings, and other child care activities.
  • To control the spread of infection, please do not go to the blanket warmer or to the refrigerator. Staff members are glad to do these things for you.
  • The side rails on the stretchers and beds should always be up when you are away from your child’s bedside. This protects your child from falling and getting hurt.
  • If your child is younger than 36 months, you will be offered a crib. All patients younger than 36 months must be placed in cribs if they are left alone.
  • Please remember that space is limited in the Medicine Room. The staff knows that family members want to be with their child, and that family presence is important for your child. Please understand that sometimes the staff may have to limit the number of people in a room.
  • If you have to leave your child’s room but you don’t want to leave him unsupervised, you will need to find someone to stay with your child. Staff members can sometimes sit with your child while you make a short visit to the cafeteria. But please arrange for another caregiver if you need to leave your child for more than 15 minutes.
  • The stretchers in the Medicine Room are for patient use only. By limiting the number of people who lay on the stretchers, we hope to prevent the spread of infection.
  • If your child has a wheelchair or other large equipment, please let the Medicine Room staff store it to keep the treatment area safe. Please do not bring riding toys into the Medicine Room.
  • Eating and drinking are allowed in the Medicine Room. To help prevent the spread of infection, please follow the hospital’s infection control and “Eating Safely” guidelines. (See "Do you know… How to prevent infection.")
  • If you are unable to leave your child in the Medicine Room to go to the cafeteria, you may order food from room service. A staff member will place the food order. Then, you will need to go to the cafeteria, pay for the food using cash or a meal card, and return to the Medicine Room promptly. Staff members can sometimes sit with your child while you make a short visit to the cafeteria, but please arrange for another caregiver if you need to leave your child for more than 15 minutes. Snacks are offered in the Nutrition Center for the patients who are being seen in the Medicine Room.
  • To protect the privacy of all patients, no one is allowed behind the counters except staff members.
  • Feel free to bring quiet toys or books with you into the Medicine Room.
  • A playroom is offered if a “play break” will help your child relax. It is staffed by a Child Life specialist, who can offer activities for your child. In an effort to make Medicine Room visits safe for all patients, this playroom can be used by patients only while they are receiving treatment in the Medicine Room. If you and your child are waiting to go to the Medicine Room, we ask that you wait in the north clinic waiting area until your child’s name is called.
  • When your child is using the Medicine Room playroom, we ask that you follow these guidelines:
    • An adult must supervise your child while he is in the playroom.
    • Food and drinks should not be brought into the playroom.
    • Your child must return to his room or recliner chair when he is connected or disconnected from any medicine.
    • Any toys your child uses in the playroom should be placed in the “dirty toy bin” so they can be cleaned before other patients play with them.
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