Preparing for Your Stay

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. This association helps keep our health care providers at the forefront of medical knowledge.

In a teaching hospital, most patients are seen and examined by more than one physician. Care may be coordinated by a staff physician specializing in the care of acutely ill patients. This physician — who may be called a hospitalist, an attending physician or, in the intensive care unit, an intensivist — works with your own doctor, communicating about your progress and planning for your ongoing care.

You will likely see groups of doctors and caregivers each day, including

• The doctor coordinating your care
• Members of our "house staff" — doctors who have graduated from medical school and are here to obtain advanced medical training, including interns, residents, and fellows.
• Nurse practitioners
• Physician assistants

The medical center also has a number of students who work under the supervision of clinical instructors. You may see students from a variety of fields including medicine, nursing, social work, and nutrition.

Your Privacy is Important to Us

Your privacy has always been important to us. At BIDMC, we strive to provide the highest quality of care and services in an environment that is built on trust and mutual respect.

In April 2003, a new federal privacy rule — called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) — went into effect. This rule provides protection for health information, whether it is written, oral or electronic. All members of our workforce, clinical and non-clinical, are committed to protecting the confidentiality of your health information and follow state and federal laws concerning privacy.

Notice of Privacy Practices

During your hospital visit, you should receive our Notice of Privacy Practices booklet if you have not already received it during a previous visit. If you were unable to read this information when you were admitted, one of our staff members will bring it to your room.

This booklet tells you in detail how the medical center may use and disclose medical information about you and describes your rights as a patient to access your medical information. With the booklet, you will receive an acknowledgement form that you will be asked to sign. We are required to ask for your signature simply to confirm that you have received the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Notice of Privacy Practices.

The privacy rule formalizes the medical center's longstanding commitment to protect the privacy of our patients. For all privacy-related concerns, please contact the Privacy Office at 617-667-2008.

Talking to Children about Hospitalization & Considerations for Visiting

Discussing Your Condition

• Give your children age appropriate information about your medical illness and reason for hospitalization.
• Explain the plan and how it will affect their lives — Who will take care of them while you are in the hospital? How long will you be separated?

Preparing for a Visit

• If a child expresses interest in visiting the hospital, first ask the nurse if there are any restrictions to visitation on the unit.
• Prepare the child for what they will see, including the machines, monitors, IV poles, bandages, sounds, smells, and the number of patients in a room.
• Describe how their loved one may look including pallor, hair, all aspects of appearance, confusion or fatigue; whether the parent can talk or ambulate; if the parent is in pain, and what is helping with the pain.
• It can be helpful to take a photograph of the patient and the room to show the child prior to visiting. The child will need preparation to see a parent whose appearance is dramatically altered.

The Visit

• Bring an additional supportive adult to the visit who can keep the child occupied elsewhere in the hospital if the child tires of the hospital room, or if the child has a difficult time.
• Keep the visit brief. Let the child know the visit was meaningful to the parent, even if there was not a lot of interaction.
• If the child does not want to visit, explore their reasons — fear of how parent will look, fear of the hospital setting? Fear of what might happen? Do not force the child if they do not want to go.
• If a child does not want to visit or if there are restrictions to visiting, consider alternatives such as phone calls, video, email, or photo communication. For younger children, making drawings or writing a note and receiving feedback about how much the parent liked it often can feel gratifying to them.
• Visits should be postponed or avoided if the parent is temporarily agitated or unable to recognize the child. If the parent is terminally ill, you should make it possible for the child to go for a last visit. Encourage them to talk to their parent and/or hold their hand even if the parent is unconscious.
• After each visit, talk to the child about how they felt at the hospital — What surprised them? What made them afraid, if anything? This helps to plan for a next visit or for the parent's return home from the hospital.

Resources

• Social workers, nurses and staff are available to assist in discussing parent's illness with children and helping them with their fears and concerns.