MUSC Children's Hospital - PCICU Family Information

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PCICU Family Information: Visitation Policy

The PCICU cares for people born with heart defects or with acquired heart disease, before or after heart surgery. The patient may be a newborn, child or adult. The main phone number is (843) 792-3806. Upon admission, each patient receives a code. We are happy to give information over the phone to any person with the code. Do NOT give this number to anyone unless you want him or her to have updated information. We suggest you pick one member of your family to act as a spokesperson to provide information to the rest of the family. This allows us to spend more time with the child.

We allow two (2) persons from the immediate family to visit the patient at one time. In the first twenty-four (24) hour period, we ask that you keep visits to 10 minutes per hour to allow us to care for your child at this critical time. As the child becomes more stable, visits are prolonged. Families can visit as long as tolerated by the patient. If staying close by, we suggest calling the unit ahead of time to minimize waiting time.

If there is a problem with any patient or if a surgical procedure is progress, we will not allow visits. There is no visiting between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. or 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to allow shift report and doctors rounds to be confidential.

We encourage families to get needed rest between 11 p.m. and 8:30 am. This also allows the child to maintain a normal day/night pattern.

Please be sure to thoroughly wash and dry your hands upon entering the unit to prevent spread of infections.

There is no visiting between patients. This will minimize cross infections. We realize that many parents get to know each other and become friends. Please keep socializing outside of the unit not at the bedside.

It is important that brothers and sisters know their sibling is okay. Visiting may help them deal with the stress of having you spending your time with a sick child. Discuss visitation of brothers and sisters under the age of 12 with the nurse caring for your child. If they are sick or have been exposed to communicable diseases (chicken pox, measles, etc) they cannot visit. It may be helpful to involve Child Life before a sibling visits. They can help prepare children for the sites and sounds they will encounter while visiting in the ICU and decrease the stress they experience. Ask your child's nurse to contact Child Life for you.

There are no flowers allowed in the PCICU. Patients may have toys, blankets, music boxes, mobiles, radios, etc. Familiar toys or belongings help a child feel safe and secure. Please label all your child's belongings.

Do not bring items of value or sentimental value to the unit. We cannot be responsible for lost or broken items.

There are no rubber or latex balloons allowed. They may have Mylar or non-latex balloons.

You may take photographs or videos of your child but not of the equipment.

We may arrange a meeting with the PCICU care team and the parents of any child in the PCICU for more than one (1) month. This meeting is to discuss the patient's progress, plan of care and to assure all information between family and staff is consistent.

Your relationship with the people who take care of your child is important. The staff is available to take care of physical, as well as emotional needs of your child. If at any time, you are unhappy with the care, or you would like to commend a staff member, you may notify the nurse manager at 792-8248 and/or mention them on your discharge satisfaction survey. Please fill out the discharge survey. We continually strive to improve the care we provide our families. Your comments and suggestions will help us improve our service for future patients and families.

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