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Critical Care
Resources For You
Information about visiting hours, resources to help with your loved one’s care, and tips for a better hospital experience
For Visiting
When your loved one needs critical care, visits from close family
members can do wonders for his spirits and healing. We encourage you
and your family to visit, send cards of encouragement or bring pictures
of family members, friends or pets.
At each visit, the first person you will meet is a critical care
ambassador. She will provide information to assist you during your
loved one’s stay. She will also check to make sure your loved one is
ready to receive visitors.
Because your loved one will require a high level of care, there are special visiting guidelines:
- Scheduled family visiting hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 3-6:30 p.m. and 8:30-9:30 p.m.
- Talk to your care team about special visiting hours or needs, and the
best way to arrange visits from children under 12 and close friends.
- Please limit visitors to two people at one time.
- Please do not bring food or beverages into your loved one’s room.
- Please do not send flowers while your loved one is in the Center for Critical Care.
- In order to protect the privacy of other patients in the unit, we ask
that you remain in your loved one’s room while you are visiting.
- Please keep visits short to encourage your loved one to rest.
- We may ask you to return to the waiting room if we need to provide care to your loved one.
- Please turn cell phones off while in the waiting room or the
intensive care unit. They may interfere with sensitive medical
equipment.
- Please do not visit if you are sick, have an infection or have been
vaccinated recently. Our patients have weakened immune systems and we
need to provide a healthy environment to speed their recovery.
- Smoking is not permitted anywhere in the hospital.
The nature of critical care is unpredictable. We appreciate your
understanding if your visits are unexpectedly delayed or interrupted.
We have the best interests of your loved one in mind at all times.
You may notice cameras in your loved one’s hospital room. They are
linked to an off-site location where we maintain an
advanced Intensive
Care Unit (aICU). It is staffed by specially educated critical care
physicians and nurses who provide an extra layer of care in addition to
bedside care, especially during overnight hours. Your loved one’s blood
pressure, heart rate and other vital signs are monitored continuously
so our critical care nurses and physicians are alerted immediately of
any changes in your loved one’s health.
For Your Loved One’s Care
Pastoral care – Interfaith chaplains provide comfort, support and
guidance if you’ve received bad news, are anxious or fearful, or just
need a listening ear.
Financial counselors – These professionals provide guidance to families
if you have no health insurance or can’t afford to pay for care. They
can help you learn if you qualify for free or reduced-cost care,
medications or cafeteria vouchers. If you need to talk to a financial
counselor, ask your loved one’s case manager for more information.
Palliative care – A total approach to caring for people with a serious
illness or injury, palliative care addresses patients’ physical,
emotional and spiritual needs.
Ethics consultations – It’s a decision you hope you don’t have to face.
But if you need to make tough decisions, such as deciding whether your
loved one needs ventilator assistance, you can request an ethics
consultation. Led by a physician, the consult connects you, your loved
one and your family with caregivers and neutral observers, including a
chaplain and a person specially educated in medical ethics. Together,
they review your loved one’s care and offer recommendations.
Hospice – For patients with a prognosis of six months or less, the
hospice team provides loving care and support that both the patient and
family need at the end of life.
For Your Convenience
Telephones – Cell phones can interfere with sensitive medical
equipment, so please do not use them in the waiting room or the
intensive care unit. You may use phones provided in the waiting room or
near the elevators in the main hall. Telephones in the intensive care
unit need to be available at all times for physicians and caregivers.
Cafeteria, Café and Coffee – The cafeteria is located near the main
lobby at Lehigh Valley Hospital—Cedar Crest. Ask your loved one’s care
team about hours. Also, a coffee cart is located in the lobby of the
Jaindl Family Pavilion, and a café is located in the corridor between
the Jaindl Family Pavilion and the John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer
Center. Café hours are 7:45 a.m.-2:15 p.m.
Gift shops – A gift shop is located in the main lobby at Lehigh Valley
Hospital—Cedar Crest. Additional gift shops are located in the Jaindl
Family Pavilion and the John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer Center.
Chapel – The hospital’s chapel is located adjacent to the main lobby. It is nondenominational and available 24-hours a day.
Overnight lodging – Jenn’s House in Emmaus, Pa., provides affordable
housing for families who have loved ones in the hospital. Guests of all
ages are welcome to stay for any length of time necessary. Inform the
trauma team if you are interested.
This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
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Emergency Care Choice
