Stay Safe in the Hospital

Preventing Infection

We encourage you to ask each person who enters your room to wash their hands or use sanitizing alcohol gel. That means every visitor and family members—even your nurses and doctors. We also remind you that it is very important for you to wash your hands with soap and warm water or use sanitizing hand gel after you cough, sneeze, use the restroom and before you eat. Please use a tissue when you cough or sneeze and immediately discard it in the trash. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, never your hands.

Other ways you can help prevent infection:

• Ask visitors to refrain from visiting if they are feeling ill.
• Ask visitors to refrain from using the restroom in your patient room.
• Carefully follow your doctor’s instructions regarding your treatment plan (breathing treatments, getting out of bed, etc.) and don’t hesitate to ask questions so that you fully understand.
• If you have a wound, intravenous catheter, etc., keep the skin around the dressing clean and dry. Tell your nurse promptly if the dressing works loose or gets wet.
• If you have any type of catheter or drainage tube, let your nurse know promptly if it becomes loose or dislodged.

Medication Safety

As a patient, you share the responsibility for safe medication use and we encourage you to work with us to ensure your safety. It is important that all of the medications you receive while in the hospital are prescribed by your doctor, dispensed by our pharmacy, and administered by your nurse so that dangerous drug interactions do not occur. To ensure your safety, you may not administer your own medications. Please inform your nurse if you have brought any medications (vitamins, over-the-counter, herbal, samples and prescription) from home.

Preventing Falls

Hospitals are unfamiliar places, so please inform our staff if you have a history of falls or are feeling dizzy, weak or unsteady on your feet. If this is the case, do not get in or out of bed without assistance. When walking, make sure there is adequate light to see, point out spills or obstructions, and wear non-slip footwear. Always make sure the brakes are locked before getting in/out of wheelchairs and learn to properly use assistive devices like canes, walkers and crutches.

Security

Our Security officers are available 24/7 to respond to safety or security concerns. To reach Security, dial “0” from any hospital phone.

Fire and Severe Weather

For your protection, we conduct fire and severe weather drills regularly. In the event of an actual emergency, please remain calm. Our trained staff will let you know if any action needs to occur.