Family Education and Resources Guide
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Family Childbirth & Children’s Center AT MERCY Family Education and Resources Guide Welcome to The Family Childbirth and Children’s Center at Mercy It is our pleasure to take care of you during this very special time. We are dedicated to providing excellent patient care in an atmosphere of safety, comfort, courtesy, and respect. Please feel free to ask us any questions during your stay. This Family Education and Resources Guide provides information you or your family may need during your stay as well as for when you go home. Our nursing staff will point out the items that pertain specifically to you. On behalf of all the doctors and health professionals of The Family Childbirth and Children’s Center, thank you for choosing Mercy for your care. 1 2 Table of Contents About Your Stay ..........................5 Patient Information ............................. 9 Post Partum Care .................................... 21 • Your Room • Visiting Hours • Normal Physical Appearance - Linen Changes - Labor & Delivery • Cramping - Housekeeping (8th floor, The Bunting Center) • Bleeding - Wireless Internet Access - Mother/Baby • Stitches - GetWell Network (10th floor, The Bunting Center) • Cesarean Section - The Mothers Gardens - NICU (8th floor, The Bunting Center) • Controlling Pain Levels - Shift Change - Overnight Visitors • Breast Pain • Your Safety - Brother and Sister Visits • Uterine or Abdominal Pain - Mother and Baby Identification • Chapels • Emptying your Bladder - Fall Prevention - McAuley Chapel • Bowels - Infant Safety Instructions - Chapel of Light • Hemorrhoids • Your Meals • Gift Shops • Constipation - Meal Selection - The Bunting Lobby • Breast Care - Patient Meal Times - The McAuley Lobby • Mood Swings • Understanding MRSA • Cafés • Your Weight and Staying Healthy - What is MRSA? - Corcoran Café - What is infection vs. colonization? - The Bistro Infant Care .............................................. 29 - Is MRSA treatable? - The Coffee Kiosk • Medications and Tests for All Babies - How does MRSA spread? - Baggot Street Café • What is Maryland’s Newborn Screening Program - What will happen in the hospital? • Parking and Valet • Newborn Hearing Screening - What can you do to prevent the • Smoke-Free Campus • Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Defects spread of MRSA? Labor and Delivery .............................15 Medications ............................................ 39 • Labor and Delivery Process • Induction of Labor Resources ................................................ 41 • Preterm Labor/PPROM • New Mom Support Group • Preeclampsia • Recommended Reading for Breastfeeding Mothers • Helpful Websites 3 4 About Your Room Your Safety Linen Changes Mother and Baby Identification Your Stay Linens are changed every other day. If you would like Mercy Medical Center uses a four-bracelet identification your linens changed more frequently, please notify the system: two bracelets for the baby; one for the mother; and nursing staff. one for the adult support person. Housekeeping Fall Prevention Your room will be cleaned every morning. Trash will be During pregnancy, there are some changes that can put you removed at least one additional time during the day. If you at an increased risk for falling: need your room cleaned between these times, please let • Changes in your center of gravity as your body changes your nurse know. • Loosening of the joints at the end of pregnancy Wireless Internet Access Internet access is a free service in every patient room for While you are in the hospital, some fall risks include: our patients and their visitors. Please use the sign-on • Fetal monitors attached to you “mercyguest”. • Other attached equipment, such as IVs GetWell Network • Pain medication The GetWell Network is an interactive system that gives • Epidural or spinal anesthesia instant access to nursing staff, medical information, and entertainment. It is available in each patient room. Please do not get out of bed after delivery until a nurse is in the room with you. Your nurse will perform an The Mothers Gardens assessment to determine your ability to walk and care for Located on the 8th floor of The Bunting Center, these yourself. Please let your nurse or another staff member gardens provide a place for rest and relaxation for our know if you need help getting out of bed at any time during patients and visitors. With the permission of your doctor or your stay. health professional, you may visit the gardens throughout your stay. Infant Safety Instructions Your nurse will review the following safety tips to enable you Shift Change to safely care for your infant during your stay in the hospital Nursing shift change occurs at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm every and when you return home. day. During this time, you can expect your nurse to visit • Always place your baby on his/her back in the crib. you and introduce you to your on-coming nurse. They “BACK TO SLEEP” to help prevent Sudden will discuss with you your plan for pain control and your Remember: Infant Death Syndrome (S.I.D.S.). expectations for your care. 5 • Avoid placing loose blankets and stuffed toys near your • Do not hold anyone else’s baby while you are in the baby’s face or head. hospital. This helps prevent the spread of germs. • Only staff wearing a pink Mercy ID badge should be • Your baby’s brothers and sisters are welcome to visit the allowed to take your baby from your room. The pink new baby. For infection control purposes, children who badge identifies Mercy staff who care for babies and their are not the baby’s brothers and sisters must be older than mothers. If you are not sure who is in your room with 12 years of age to visit the new baby. your baby, CALL YOUR NURSE. • The infant sensor on your baby’s ankle must be kept on at all times. This is a security device to help prevent infant abduction. • You and your visitors should always wash your hands Your Meals before handling your baby, after changing a diaper, and after using the bathroom. Meal Selection A member of our Nutrition & Food Service staff will visit • Hold your baby while feeding. Do not lay your baby on you each day to help you select your meal choices for the the bed or in the crib for feeding. following day. If your doctor or health professional orders • Your nurse will teach you how to use the blue bulb diet restrictions, your menu selections will be changed. syringe. Use it to clear your baby’s nose and mouth if necessary. Patient Meal Times • Remember, when holding your baby, give him/her Your meals will be served around the following times: your full attention. Even at home it is recommended • Breakfast: 8:15 am that you do not talk on the phone, hold hot drinks, or • Lunch: 12:45 pm smoke while holding your baby. Second hand smoke is dangerous to your baby’s health. • Dinner: 5:45 pm • Your baby should never be left alone in your bed or in your hospital room. Even newborns can fall. If you have a special request or if your meal does not meet your expectations, please contact the Dietary Director • If you have taken something for pain and you feel sleepy, at 410-332-9303. put your baby in the crib. It is not safe for your baby to sleep with you in your bed or sleep chair. • If you are able to walk in the hallways, your baby must be in a crib and may be rolled along with you as you walk. 6 What will happen in the hospital? Understanding MRSA If you are tested for MRSA, a swab will be inserted into each (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus) nostril to test for the presence of MRSA. All patients who have a history of MRSA or a positive culture for MRSA will be placed in During your stay at Mercy, you may be tested for the bacteria, Contact Isolation. Isolation is used to keep you and other patients Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus. safe. If you are admitted to the hospital again, you will be placed in isolation and tested again. What is MRSA? Staphylococcus aureus (pronounced: staff-ill-oh-KOK-us AW- What happens in contact isolation? ree-us), or “Staph” is a very common germ that one (1) out of • Everyone (including your visitors) who enters the room every three (3) people have on their skin or in their nose. This must wear gown and gloves germ does not cause problems for most people who have it on • When visitors leave the room, the gown and gloves must their skin. For some people, it can cause serious infections such be put in the red trash bags as skin or wound infections, pneumonia, or infections in the blood. MRSA is a type of Staph that is resistant to some of the • Hands must be washed thoroughly with either soap and water antibiotics that are often used to treat Staph infections. If you or the alcohol hand foam when entering and exiting the room are diagnosed with a Staph infection, your doctor or health professional will work with you for appropriate treatment. What can you do to help prevent the spread of MRSA? • Wash your hands thoroughly What is infection vs. colonization? • Encourage your family and friends to wash their hands MRSA can cause infection or colonization: • Have your family and friends wear gowns and gloves • Infection: germs are in or on the body and make you sick. when entering an isolation room There are signs and symptoms such as fever, pus from a wound, or pneumonia. When you go home • Colonization: germs are in or on your body but do not make • Wash your hands often. The people who visit or live with you sick. There are no signs or symptoms. you should wash their hands often. • If you have a bandage, it is especially important to wash Is MRSA treatable? your hands before and after changing the bandage.