What You Need To Know If You Are Being Admitted

GETTING SETTLED IN:

• Your Room:
  • Your room includes a bedside stand, for your belongings such as toiletries, an overbed table which opens and is equipped with a mirror. A nurse call button which rings at the nurses' station and can be answered by intercom. Your bed has an electrical control enabling you to raise or lower the foot or head for comfort. There is an emergency button in your bathroom should you require assistance.
• Meals:
  • Diet instruction and nutritional counseling will be provided with your physician’s approval. If you would like to speak to a Registered Dietitian, please ask your nurse.

SAFETY AND SECURITY:

• Smoking Policy:
  • McGehee Hospital is a smoke free facility. As a healthcare institution, McGehee Hospital recognizes the hazards of smoking and enforces a "no smoking policy" throughout the institution. Patients, visitors, physicians, staff and volunteers are not permitted to smoke on the premises under any circumstances. Please speak to your physician in regard to alternative measures.
• Medication:
  • Please give your nurse a list of any medications and herbal supplements you are taking, including dosage and times. Your nurse will review these with your physician who will decide on which medications you should continue to take during your hospitalization. Your nurse will bring your medication to you as ordered by your physician. All medications you may have brought with you, including aspirin, should be returned home as they can interfere or interact with tests or medicines ordered for your treatment.
• For your safety and protection, only medicines approved by your physician and supplied by us. Pharmacy will be given to you during your stay. Your nurse will ask you questions concerning your past responses to medications and any allergies you may have. You may be asked to wear an allergy bracelet, which alerts all caregivers to your allergies.
• Consent Forms:
  • You may be asked to sign consent forms for certain types of treatment, tests and/or procedures. These tests or procedures will have been explained by your physician. If you do not understand the procedure or test you are asked to consent to, tell your nurse and your physician will be notified. It is important for you to understand the risks, benefits and alternatives available to you whenever you are undergoing anything other than a minor test; (such as having a chest x-ray) or treatment; (such as having the nurse administer intravenous fluids).
• Your Personal Belongings:
  • As we cannot accept responsibility for valuables left in your room, we strongly encourage you to give extra money, medications, credit cards, wallets, jewelry, etc., to a family member or close friend to take home. Or, ask your nurse to put your valuables in the secure place.
• Eyeglasses, Dentures, Hearing Aids:
  • Eyeglasses, dentures and hearing aids are an important part of your life if you require them in your daily living activities. These items require special care. Take care not to leave any of these items on your meal tray or lying on your bed, as they may be inadvertently disposed of or lost.

DIETARY:

• Sitter Meals
  • Sitters staying and helping to take care of the patient will be provided one free meal per day. If the sitter is staying around the clock, 3 meals will be provided. The sitter must be with the patient throughout the day or overnight. Meals will not be given when the sitter comes in at meal time or comes in and out. Nursing is responsible for ordering a sitter tray and must be added to the diet sheet.
• Guest Tray
  • If a patient’s family or guest would like a meal tray, they are to notify the Dietary Department and pay for the meal in the dining room before the meal is sent to the room. The cost for guest trays is $7.00 each.
  • Meals need to be requested by:
    • 7:00 am for Breakfast
    • 9:00 am for Lunch
    • 3:00 pm for Supper
• Terminal Patient Sitter Meals
  • Patients that are terminal will receive 3 sitter meals per day.