Page Contents
Preparing
Communicate
Identification
Surgery
Emergency
Medications
Infection control
Going home
Tips for kids
Site Contents
Patients & visitors
Medical professionals
Yale-New Haven
Children's Hospital
Yale-New Haven
Psychiatric Hospital
General information
Calendar
Online resource
Press information
Phone Numbers
Directory assistance
(203) 688-4242
Patient Information
(203) 688-4177
Adult emergency
(203) 688-2222
Children's emergency
(203) 688-3333
Admitting
(203) 688-2221
Children's admitting
(203) 688-3331
Psychiatric admitting
(203) 688-9907
Mailing address:
Yale-New Haven Hospital
20 York Street
New Haven, CT 06510-3202
Pediatric Patient Safety: Keeping Children Safe in the Hospital
Keeping children safe is every parent's priority. Although hospitals are very concerned about every patient's safety, they are busy places. Accidental injuries and human errors can happen in spite of the staff's best intentions. The more informed and involved you are in the treatment of your children, the safer their hospital experience is likely to be. Here are some ways you can help make your child's hospital stay as safe as possible.
Preparing for the Hospital
Learn all you can about your child’s illness and scheduled treatments. This will help you participate in your child’s care and increase the odds of detecting any mistakes.
- Seek respected sources for information. Your child’s doctor and any specialists you are referred to should be your main sources of medical information. Make sure to ask them about any information you don’t understand. Other possible resources include books, Web sites and medical organizations (e.g., American Cancer Society, American Academy of Pediatrics). You may also want to talk to others who have had your child’s condition. Yale-New Haven Hospital developed a guide to finding health information on the Web called Making the Right Choice on the Web. Call (203) 688-2488 to request a free copy.
- Get a notebook and write down important information about test results, medications, etc. Ask the doctor or his staff to make copies of any important information for you. Take it with you when you go to health care appointments. If you have questions, write them down so you won’t forget to ask them during your next visit.
- Choose a hospital that has a lot of experience in the treatment your child needs. Research indicates patients do better at experienced hospitals where the staff is familiar with the disease, surgery or procedure. Professionals and hospitals that specialize in caring for children are your best choice.
Communicate
- Talk with your child’s caregivers about your child’s health history. Talking with caregivers gives you an opportunity to make sure they have the right information about important details such as allergic reactions or medication history.
- Bring medical information with you such as any medications your child takes, how much and why they take it. If your child has any allergies to medications or food, know what they are and what kind of reaction they have. Bring your child’s immunization record and make sure it includes the dates when the immunizations were given. Also, know the dates of any previous surgeries or hospitalizations.
- Know your child’s caregivers. Make sure your child has been introduced to the people caring for him or her and is as comfortable as possible with them. All staff should wear identification badges that include their pictures. If you don’t see such a badge on someone caring for your child, ask to see it. At Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, we have added an additional security measure. Only hospital employees with a bright pink background behind their name on their hospital ID badge may remove your child from his or her room. If someone without an ID with a bright pink background or a red physician ID badge asks to take your child, check with your nurse before allowing your child to go with that person.
- Know your child’s primary nurse. At Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, all children have a primary nurse. This registered nurse (RN) helps coordinate your child’s care. He or she talks with all the people caring for your child to make sure you and your child receive the highest level of care and support possible.
- If you don’t understand why something is being done, ask questions. Repeat the caregivers’ answers to make sure you understand their responses and write them down. If you’re not comfortable with any of your child’s caretakers or if they seem impatient or too busy to talk with you, seek a caregiver you are more comfortable with. If you are still uncomfortable about how your questions are being answered, contact the hospital’s Patient Relations department or ombudsman.
- Remember your rights. You have a right to question anyone involved with your child’s care. You have the right to ask for a second opinion or request a transfer to another hospital if you are dissatisfied with your child’s care. Be assertive and don’t be afraid to challenge any decisions that affect your child.
- Communicate more effectively by carrying out discussion in a calm manner and with a sense of humor. Both will help you get your message across more effectively.
- Encourage your child to speak out. You can’t be with your child every minute during hospitalization, but you can let your child know what he or she can do when you’re not present. Familiarize your child with as many aspects of safety as he or she can reasonably understand. Your child is likely to pick up on any anxiety you may be feeling, so try and share safety tips in a matter-of-fact style or manner.
Patient Identification
- Double-check your child’s identification band. While in the hospital, it’s essential for children to wear identification bands with their names and their medical record number. If they have allergies, they should wear allergy alert bracelets as well.
- Make sure your child understands how important it is not to remove or change the band in any way.
- Check that caregivers look at the identification band before they administer any medication or draw any blood.
- Familiarize yourself with orders the doctor has written for your child as much as possible. If you think medications, food or tests should not be given to your child, speak up.
Preparing for Surgery
- Choose a surgeon who is board certified as a pediatric surgeon. These surgeons have special training beyond that required of general surgeons.
- Choose an anesthesiologist who is board certified in pediatric anesthesiology if possible. These physicians have special training beyond that required of general anesthesiologists.
- Choose a hospital that specializes in the care of children. Caring for children requires different skills and facilities than adult care. People and places that focus on the care of children have more experience with children and are more likely to provide a positive health care experience for your child.
- Take a tour. Ask for a presurgery visit during which you can meet the staff and see the waiting area and recovery room. At Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, a child life specialist (a health care professional who helps children cope with the adjustments of being in a hospital by providing a variety of play experiences) is available to help reduce your child’s stress and fear of the unknown.
- In the presurgery interview with your child’s anesthesiologist, mention all health conditions your child has, medications he takes, any allergic reactions as well as any problems your child or a blood relative has had with any medication. Any of these could seriously affect your child’s reaction to an anesthetic (medication used to put your child to sleep).
- Ask whether the anesthesia professional who conducts your child’s presurgery interview is the same one who will perform anesthesia duties in the operating room. If not, ask how they’ll make sure that person receives the above information.
- Make sure you and your doctor agree and are clear on exactly what the surgery will include. Encourage the surgeon to mark the area being operated on in your presence.
- Try to be with your child immediately before and after surgery so you can observe whether your child’s pain or other problems are being controlled and getting needed attention.
- After surgery, find out whether your child had any unusual reactions to the anesthetic and write down the information. This could be important if it’s necessary to have surgery in the future.
Preparing for Emergency Care
Some hospital visits are not planned. Taking your child to the emergency department may be a frightening experience. Preparing for a visit in advance can reduce your anxiety and help keep your child safe.
- Carry a wallet card listing your child’s health conditions, medications, allergies and doctors’ names and phone numbers. Keep the information updated.
Reducing Medication Errors
- Tell caregivers about all medications your child takes (including over-the-counter medications such as cold medicines and vitamins) and any allergies he or she may have. Even if you’ve written these down on a form, remind your child’s doctor, especially at the time he or she prescribes new medications. Adverse drug reactions can be very serious.
- Tell your doctor if you have given your child any other medicines, including herbal or homeopathic medicines, or drug store items such as vitamins, aspirin and allergy medications. If you have any reason to suspect your child may be taking illegal drugs (the information is protected), please share this too. Any of these could cause dangerous interactions with drugs caregivers might give your child.
- If a caregiver is prescribing a new medication for your child, learn its name, what it is used for, the dose, possible side effects and what it looks like. This applies to intravenous (IV) medications as well as pills and liquids.
- Doublecheck to make sure your child’s exact weight is marked on the chart. Most medication doses given to children are calculated based on the child’s weight, so it is essential that the weight be marked accurately.
- Know what time of day your child is supposed to receive various medications so you can tell someone if the medications are late. Also, make sure different caregivers don’t mistakenly repeat a medication after your child has already had a dose. Your child’s medical chart shows what has been given; make sure the nurse checks what was given earlier and writes down what she gives your child.
- Tell a nurse immediately if you notice your child having an unexpected reaction to a medication or IV. Alert the nurse if your child reports any pain or burning sensation, shortness of breath or trouble breathing, dizziness, confusion, tightness in the chest, numbness or itching after receiving medication.
Infection Control
The spread of germs is a major hazard in hospitals and is believed to cause thousands of infections every year.
- Monitor hand washing. Ask your child to wash his or her hands frequently, particularly after every trip to the bathroom or playroom, after visiting with other sick children and before eating. Also watch that caregivers wash their hands before touching your child. Hands may be washed in the rest rooms with hot water and soap or by using the Purell handwash dispensers, conveniently located throughout the floor.
- Alert the nurse if bedclothes or linens become soiled
- Ask friends and family who may have colds, respiratory infections or other infectious illnesses (such as flu, diarrhea, fever and rash) not to visit your child in the hospital. Minimize visits from young children who frequently carry germs that can infect others.
Going Home
It’s important to continue safe practices after your child is discharged from the hospital.
- Understand your child’s treatment plan for home, including any medications she or he will need to continue to take, how quickly the child may return to normal activities and what signs or symptoms require a quick call to the doctor. If you need to learn to do a special treatment for your child at home, make sure you practice it with your nurse until you are comfortable performing it.
- Bring home contact information. Make sure you have the names and phone numbers of hospital staff you should call if you have any questions following discharge.
- Ask when you should bring your child in for a follow-up visit.
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Call (203) 688-2000 or toll free (888) 700-6543 to speak with a health information coordinator or request an appointment. You can also get physician information or request an appointment on this web site. |
Last revised: Oct. 11, 2007 (dh)
