Guidelines for Family and Visitors
Progressive Care, Medical-Surgical ICU, Cardiovascular ICU, and Coronary Care Unit

Your involvement in the caregiving process will be most effective if you can observe a few guidelines we've established. These guidelines are designed to help us deliver the best possible care to our patients. They include the following:

Please observe our visiting hours, which are 10 a.m. - 8:30 p.m., daily, except from 6:45 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. We must ask visitors to leave the patient care area for this time to ensure patient confidentiality during shift change reporting among nursing staff. Unfortunately, visitors cannot stay in patient rooms overnight, and no one under the age of 10 is permitted at any time. We understand it can be difficult to leave family members or loved ones, but it allows them to rest without interruptions. It also gives our nurses room to move freely during procedures with patients. In some cases, we can make exceptions to these policies. If you feel an exception should be made in your case, please contact the nurse manager.
If you need overnight accommodations, please ask us. We can provide you with information about area hotels. For security and hygiene reasons, you cannot spend the night in our waiting area.
We want to share information with you and your family. We can do this most effectively if you designate one or two representatives for your family. To ensure confidentiality, we will also ask for a code word, which you will designate during your introduction to the unit, before we will share information with you. The spokesperson(s) will be responsible for informing other members of your family about a patient's progress. This process for communicating information is beneficial to patients and our caregivers because it gives the ICU staff more time with patients and less time answering phone calls.
If a nurse asks you at any time to step out to a waiting room, please comply.
Please refrain from bringing food and/or drinks into patient rooms.
A maximum of two visitors is permitted at one time in each patient's room.

critical care nurse

What to Bring to the ICU

The patient's favorite robe or slippers, if they will be getting out of bed.
The patient's eyeglasses or dentures.
The patient's list of current medications.
Special medications, such as eye drops, that the patient may need.

Please do not bring the following items:

Flowers or plants — they are not permitted in patient rooms.
Candy or food — patients follow specific diets, which a physician has prescribed, while they are in our units.
Electrical devices of any kind, including cell phones and pagers — they may not be properly grounded, and they can interfere with hospital equipment.

Your Cooperation is Appreciated

You are an important part of the team and we greatly appreciate your cooperation in following the guidelines listed here. If you or your family has a special need, please contact the nurse manager to discuss the situation.