Information for Inpatients and Their Families

Visiting Guidelines

Children’s Hospital has a 24-hour visitation policy for parents. Siblings age 4 and older, immediate family members and all other visitors may visit between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Visitors are restricted to the patient’s room.

Visitor Identification Badges

All visitors, including parents, siblings and clergy are required to wear color-coded identification badges while in the hospital. Badges are available at the lobby Information Desk, located on the 1st floor, Main Tower and at the 3 North Entrance Information Desk. Badges must be replaced daily, even by parents who stay overnight, and must be worn in a visible location at all times. Parents who will be staying on hospital premises for more than two weeks will be issued a long-term badge, which eliminates the need to check in daily.

Patient Identification Code

To ensure patient safety and confidentiality, each child will be assigned a four-digit identification number upon admission. Each day, the Information Desk staff will ask all visitors, including parents, to provide the four-digit identification number assigned to the child they wish to visit. If a visitor cannot provide the correct four-digit identification number, he/she will be given the patient’s room phone number in order to obtain the four-digit identification number. When the visitor gives the Information Desk the four-digit number, a visitor’s badge will be issued.

Acute and Specialty Care Visitation

On acute care units, three people, including parents, may visit a patient at one time. In specialty and critical care units, visitation is limited to two visitors at a time, including parents.

Certain units, such as the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Intermediate Intensive Care Unit (IICU), Bone Marrow Transplant, Same Day Surgery and the Operating Room have restricted visiting hours and specific visiting policies. If your child is in one of these units, please check with his/her nurse regarding visiting hours and other policies.

Photography Policy

Parents/guardians are permitted to photograph their child provided no other children, patients, families or staff are in the picture. A nurse or other staff member will supervise the photographing of patients.

Infectious Diseases Clearance

All visitors under 17 years of age must be accompanied by an adult and have an Infectious Diseases clearance. To obtain an Infectious Diseases clearance, parents and/or guardians of children who are visitors will be asked the following questions by staff at the Information Desk:

Has the child been exposed to or had chicken pox?
Is the child currently sick?
What unit will the child be visiting?

If clearance is not granted, the child will not be permitted to go to the patient floor.

Universal Precautions

Children’s Hospital follows guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent the spread of disease. These universal precautions include hand-washing and the use of gloves, gowns, protective eyewear and/or masks. In some instances, you also may be asked to wash your hands or wear special clothing before entering your child’s room.

If your child has, or is suspected of having, a disease that could be transmitted to other patients, he/she may be placed in an isolation room. The door to the isolation room must be kept closed at all times. Visitors and health care workers may need to wear special clothing before entering the room.

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Updated 10/27/05