Your child will have a primary doctor while in hospital who will visit regularly and update you on your child’s progress and treatment. We encourage you to prepare a list of questions for your doctor. An on-call pediatrician (doctor) is available and may attend to your child as well. Your child’s nurse can answer many questions and assist you in contacting the doctor as needed.
What can you bring to the hospital to make your child’s stay more comfortable?
If your child requires diapers, we ask that you bring them from home. We do keep a small quantity for newly-admitted infants until parents can provide their own. You may also purchase diapers from the retail pharmacy on the third (main) floor of the hospital.
The hospital provides food and formula for patients in most circumstances. If your child is on a specific formula or enteral feeding that we do not have available, we may ask you to provide your own. Please provide any soothers/bottles that your child uses at home.
We may ask you to bring any medication(s) that your child is taking at home. A pharmacist will review the medications and we will keep them in a locked area until discharge. make sure that all of our patients are safe, please do not keep medications not in use or personal medications in your child's room.
Any electrical equipment from home (including electronic games/notebook computers) must be safety checked by the hospital’s maintenance department. Please speak with your nurse to arrange this.
What will your child’s hospital room be like?
The room your child will have depends on their age, diagnosis and infection control practices. Children, on occasion, may need to be moved to a different room any time of the day or night to ensure that the needs of all of our patients are met.
Please provide insurance information regarding private/semi-private coverage shortly after admission. We will use this information to assign your child’s room. Isolation needs sometimes prevent private rooms from being available.
For your child’s safety, staff must have full access to your child and necessary emergency equipment at all times. Please respect the limited space and keep chairs/sleep chairs pulled away from this equipment, located at the head of the crib/bed.
Help us to keep our unit tidy by placing any unused food and empty containers in trash cans and recycling bins. All surface areas are cleaned daily for your child’s health. There is a locker at each bedside for your use. Please limit your child’s toys/belongings to their bed/surrounding area and locker space.
How can you support your child during their hospital stay?
To support your child during their stay, it's expected that a family member, preferably a parent or guardian, will be present with the child at all times. A sleep chair or bench will be provided for one parent or guardian to stay overnight.
We know that sometimes there may be circumstances where consideration will be made for both parents to stay. Please speak with the resource nurse or charge nurse to make arrangements. We will provide the linen you need for your sleep chair; it can be stored in your locker for reuse. Please fold up the sleep chair each morning to keep the room a safe environment for staff.
Bed-sharing with your infant is unsafe and not permitted while at Grand River Hospital. Please ask your nurse for more information about this. We have appropriate sized cribs for patients ages three and under.
Parents/children are not permitted to sleep on the floor on a mattress due to fire and safety regulations.