Your child in hospital

Your child in hospital

It need not be a traumatic experience, with our helpful advice

writes Lucy Jolin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Illustration taken from ‘Going to the Hospital’, Usborne Publishing

 

When your doctor tells you that your child needs to spend some time in hospital, it’s a daunting prospect, even if it’s only for a routine procedure. After the initial anxiety, one of your first questions will be: which hospital?

Under the NHS constitution, you now have a right to choose the hospital you’re referred to by your GP. For your first appointment, your child should be offered a choice of hospitals or clinics under the new Choose and Book system which is now used by most GPs across England. The hospital you choose will most likely be the hospital where further treatment is carried out.

Before you make your choice, it’s a good idea to contact the hospitals and find out more about the factors that matter the most to you - for example, how good their facilities are for parents who want to stay with their children, how near the hospital is, and how soon an appointment is available. Talk to other parents and find out what kind of reputation the hospitals have locally. Your GP will be happy to advise you to the best of his or her knowledge, or choose for you if that’s what you’d prefer.

To find and compare hospitals, visit the NHS Choices website on www.nhs.uk.

 

Being prepared

 

Research shows that children who are prepared for a hospital stay are less anxious than those who aren’t. But don’t worry if your child is still afraid after you’ve spent hours playing doctor with him - it’s perfectly normal for both children and adults to be scared when faced with a hospital stay. How you prepare your child will depend very much on why he’s going into hospital, how old he is, and his personality - you know him best. But there are a few useful rules of thumb:

Tell your child what’s going to happen. Adjust your language to suit him. Talking about a doctor ‘cutting’ or giving the child medicine with ‘a needle’ may well create negative images. Instead, focus on positives: ‘The doctor will sort out your funny eye and then you’ll be able to see better than Superman.’

• Get him familiar with the hospital - many children’s hospitals now offer tours to children and parents. Those that don’t may well have an online tour on their website, featuring interviews with nurses and doctors on the ward.
• Use toys to act out what’s going to happen - a simple toy doctor’s bag with familiar instruments like stethoscopes and syringes is great for performing ‘operations’ on Teddy.
• Read books together and encourage him to ask questions.

Maisy Goes to Hospital by Lucy Cousins (Walker, £4.99) and Going to the Hospital (Usborne First Experiences, £3.99) are both gentle, positive stories featuring characters most young children will identify with. For older children, or those who prefer facts to stories, The Children’s Hospital by Sue Barraclough (Franklin Watts, £6.99) is a great guide to all the people and things you find in a children’s hospital.

• To find out more about your child’s stay in hospital, visit the Action for Sick Children website on www.actionforsickchildren.org

 

Essentials to pack

The hospital may supply you with its own list and should let you know if any items such as mobile phones are prohibited. Here are the essentials:

• A set of day clothes, underwear, pyjamas/nightdress, dressing gown and slippers or flip flops
• Flannel, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and soap
• Your child’s favourite toy
• Paperwork such as your child’s personal health record – you’ll probably know it as the ‘red book’ where details such as vaccinations, weight and other health details are recorded. Don’t forget the name and address of your GP, and hospital correspondence
• You child’s medication, such as an inhaler for asthma
• Change for the car park!
• Some non-perishable, non-meltable snacks – raisins, apples and snack bars are all good
• Try to avoid bringing expensive gadgets in case of theft. It may also be difficult to find somewhere to recharge things like handheld games consoles

 

Admission procedures

These vary slightly from hospital to hospital but most follow the same pattern. You’ll receive a letter telling you where to go - usually the children’s ward - and when. You might need to follow some instructions before you even set foot in the hospital, such as not allowing your child to eat or drink.

Under the European Association for Children in Hospital Charter, adopted in 1988, all children should be cared for with other children and should not be admitted to adult wards. You have the right to complain if your child is not on a suitable ward.

When you arrive on the ward, you’ll need to fill in some forms with information such as your child’s name, age and medical history. A nurse will then show you where your child will be sleeping and carry out some initial checks such as taking his temperature, blood pressure, pulse and weight. This is likely to be your child’s ‘special’ nurse, who will be your main point of contact. She should introduce herself and wear a name badge.

She might also ask your child about his play preferences - for example, does he like Bob the Builder or Roary the Racing Car? Does he like playing board games or would he prefer a book? She’ll show you and your child around and make sure you both know where to find the loos and the play areas. At some point, a doctor should come round to examine your child and answer any questions you or your child might have.

The majority of children’s wards have facilities for parents to stay with children throughout their stay. At least one parent should be allowed to stay with the child. Some wards are made up of private rooms with beds for parents and children in each room. Others with several beds will have pull-out beds so you can sleep next to your child. There might be a spare room where you can sleep.

A specialised children’s hospital may also have separate accommodation for parents. Check with the hospital about who else is allowed to visit and how long they can stay for. Discourage anyone with an infectious illness, such as a cold, from visiting. And bear in mind that due to swine flu many hospitals are now limiting visitors.

 

Common procedures

Your child will need standard regular checks. These usually include pulse, temperature and blood pressure. Again, adjust the language you use to suit your child, but stick to simple explanations such as; ‘The nurse wants to know how hot you are’ for temperature-taking. Something like: ‘The nurse is going to put a special bracelet on you to check that everything’s working properly’ for blood pressure tests should satisfy most children and avoids using the word ‘blood’ which could conjure up all sorts of unpleasant images. Reassure your child that none of these checks will hurt.

He may also need to give a sample of urine or, more problematically, blood. Sticking to the simple truth about the procedure - that a nurse will put a small needle in his arm to take some blood, that it will hurt for a little bit and then stop - is usually best. Try to be as matter-of-fact as possible. Your child will take his cues from you.

He may also need to have a canula put in. This small device is inserted into a vein, usually in the arm or the back of the hand, and allows medicines or fluids to be delivered directly to the bloodstream. The canula stays in as long as it’s needed and is then removed. The feeling of having a canula inserted is very similar to having blood taken - a small ‘scratchy’ pain which will only last a few seconds.

If you know from previous hospital or GP surgery visits that your child has a real horror of needles, let the nurses know before a procedure is carried out. They will help calm your child down and may be able to provide some local pain relief to lessen the anxiety.

 

When things aren’t going well

If you don’t understand what’s going on, ask a nurse, who should help you find answers. Pop a pen and notebook into your bag to write down questions.

Under the NHS Constitution, you have the right to complain and have that complaint properly investigated. If you have a problem, start by talking to the nurse looking after your child. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, ask to speak to whoever is in charge of the ward.

It’s a good idea to record what was said in case it’s needed later. If he or she is unwilling or unable to resolve the problem, contact the hospital’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).  You can find these contact details on the web at http://www.pals.nhs.uk/officemapsearch.aspx.

 

In an emergency

According to the Department of Health, up to half of babies under 12 months and a quarter of older children will end up in A&E every year - so it’s as well to be prepared.

 

What to take

Don’t worry too much about this - just grab your phone and your purse. Most hospitals have cash machines and you can use your mobile on most wards now. If you get a chance, pick up your child’s favourite toy and, if it’s late, a few snacks, as hospital canteens are usually only open at set hours during the day.

 

What will happen

When you arrive at A&E, your child will either be treated straight away if it’s something extremely serious, or he will be ‘triaged’ - seen by a doctor who will decide how serious his condition is and when he should be seen. You may have to wait for a while in between triage and treatment. The Department of Health says that patients should be assessed and treated within four hours. If his condition needs further investigation, he may be admitted to a ward. If he doesn’t need admitting, he may be prescribed drugs to take home. You may also be advised to take him for a follow-up visit to your GP.

 

 

 

 

 

Real life story: Lucy Jolin

When Lucy Jolin’s baby had to go to hospital at only a few days old, she didn’t know what to expect

‘When my first child Louis was just four days old, he became jaundiced and had to go to hospital. Apart from when I gave birth to him, I’d never been in hospital before.

On the children’s ward, a doctor explained to us that Louis’s liver wasn’t processing a waste product called bilirubin quickly enough, causing the jaundice. He would need to lie, naked, under a special ultra-violet light which would speed up the breakdown of bilirubin in his bloodstream.

We were given a private room with a bed for one parent and a small bed for Louis with the UV light suspended over it. As I was expressing milk for Louis, I had to stay with him.

I wasn’t allowed to take Louis from under the light to breastfeed. He had to be fed with expressed milk through a tube inserted in his nose. He was upset when the doctor inserted it but soon calmed down. Nurses came to take blood from him twice a day to check the bilirubin levels. Because he was so small, they often had to squeeze his little foot to get enough blood, which was distressing for both of us.

I wasn’t shown around the ward and only discovered the kitchen after two days! All the nurses were very kind but not all of them were efficient. A day in, I discovered that breast milk I’d been expressing and giving to the nurses to label and refrigerate hadn’t been labelled, so couldn’t be used. After that, my husband and I labelled the milk and put it in the fridge ourselves.

We stayed in hospital for three days and nights until Louis’ bilirubin levels had gone down. Looking back, I wish I’d known more about what to take and what to expect. Louis is nearly four and hasn’t needed another hospital stay - touch wood - but next time I plan to be a lot more prepared.”          

Read all about it

Going to the Hospital by Anne Civardi, illustrated by Stephen Cartwright is published in paperback in the Usborne First Experiences series, price £3.99. The illustrations in this feature are taken from the book.

Visit www.usborne.com

 

March/April 2010

All information is correct at time of publishing.