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Clinical Services:
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Cardiac Inpatient Unit: Information for Parents
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Back to For Patients and Families
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8 East is Children's Hospital Boston's inpatient Medical/Surgical Unit, located on the eighth floor of the main building at Children's Hospital Boston. It consists of 30 beds.
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8 East is for infants, children, adolescents and, in some cases, adults with heart disease. Children admitted for elective cardiac catheterization and surgery are often admitted to 8 East as well.
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Patient rooms have one or two beds and are assigned according to patient needs. There is a shower and bathroom in each room, and a curtain around each bed that may be closed for privacy.
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One parent may sleep at their child's bedside. The chairs in the patient rooms are pull-out beds. You may help yourself to sheets and towels from the linen carts, which are located on the east and north side of the unit. You can shower and use the bathroom in your child's room. The curtain around your child's bed may be closed for privacy, unless otherwise requested by your nurse.
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If other accommodations are needed, our resource specialist can help you.
Another option is The Devon Nicole House (DNH) at Children's Hospital Boston. DNH is dedicated to providing a home-away-from-home for families that have children receiving care at Children's Hospital in Boston. The Devon Nicole House at Children's Hospital Boston looks to provide help to families in need.
Please click the link below to apply for DNH.
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Devon Nicole House- Foundation Grant Application
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Parents may visit 8 East 24 hours a day. Parents will be given an identification badge when their child is admitted.
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Visitors outside the immediate family are welcome from noon to 8 p.m. Visitors should follow Children's visitor guidelines.
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Call the nurses station at 617-355-8083.
To contact the nurse while in your child's room on 8 East, use the white call box in each patient room. In a non-emergency situation, you can speak to the nurse over the intercom by pushing the button labeled "nurse." The white call box also operates the television. In an emergency, you can push the large red button located on the wall by the head of the bed.
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To call out of patient rooms, dial 9-0-number. Local and long distance calls must be dialed collect or charged to a calling card. Pay phones are located near the elevators and in the Main Lobby. You may receive phone calls directly into the patient room. The telephone number is located on the phone.
Cell phones cannot be used in the patient rooms. Parents must go to the area by the elevators to use cellphones.
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We respect the confidentiality of you and your child, for this reason we only provide information about your child to parents, guardians and the primary care physician.
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Please lock up your personal belongings when you are not in your child's room. There are small storage compartments located inside the wardrobe closet at each bedside. You may bring a lock (a small key or combination) from home. The lock must be removed when your child leaves the hospital.
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Most children are weighed daily before breakfast, and morning medications are given between 8 and 10 a.m. Vital signs, including temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure are taken at this time. Your child may be scheduled for other routine tests as well. From 1 to 3 p.m., naptime or rest period is encouraged.
The nurse needs to know how much your child eats and drinks, as well as how much he or she eliminates in urine or stool. If you give your child something to drink, save the container, and please save all diapers for your nurse. Before your child is discharged, the staff on 8 East will provide you with specific instructions.
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- Treatment rooms are designated for blood drawing and other procedures. We would like your child's bed to be a safe place, and for this reason we prefer to use these rooms for tests.
- There are televisions and VCRs in every patient room that can be tuned to both television and radio stations. The television system carries local stations and some satellite stations 24 hours a day. Movies are shown from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
- Channel 16 - Disney Channel
- Channel 22 - movies and hospital information, including the Patient Entertainment Center schedule and list of services at the Interfaith Chapel
- Channel 26 - relaxation channel
- Channel 28 - spiritual programming
- Channel 29 - patient education
- "Children's Midday" is offered each Tuesday at 2 p.m. on Channel 22. This live, interactive show, produced in the Patient Entertainment Center, welcomes patient participation from viewers on inpatient units as well as those in the entertainment area. To talk to the show's weekly host, dial K-l-D-S (ext. 5437) on your hospital phone. The schedule and listings for patient entertainment are on Channel 22, and are posted on each patient care unit.
- Wireless internet access is now available in the patient rooms. Computers are not provided, but parents and children may bring a laptop to use in their room.
Computers are available for parents and patients to use in the Center for Families.
- Meals may be ordered for patients anytime from 7 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. Orders can be placed by calling: F-O-O-D (ext. 5-3663) from the phone in the room, 617-355-FOOD when calling from outside the hospital.
Please call 45 minutes prior to desired mealtime. Meals can be ordered up to 24 hours in advance. Menus are available upon admission.
- There is food in the Patient Nourishment Center if your child needs a snack. There also is a parents' refrigerator in each kitchen for your use. Please label your food with your name and the date clearly visible, to prevent food from being thrown out when the refrigerator is cleaned.
- The Playroom is designed for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children, and features age appropriate toys and games. The Activity Room is shared by adolescents, young adults and parents. It has board games, books, video games and computers with diversional and educational programs. Bedside activities are provided for children who cannot go to the playroom.
Both the Playroom and the Activity Room are open during the day for relaxing or taking a break from the hospital routine. The Child Life Specialist works Monday through Friday, and usually coordinates one scheduled group activity each day. Movies and Nintendo are available upon request to use in patient rooms. We encourage children to bring PlayStation cartridges or movies from home. Same-Day Admit patients will be directed to the activity room to wait for surgery.
Because the Playroom and Activity Room are places where children can relax and temporarily escape the stress of the hospital, all medical examinations or other actions that may cause upset are prohibited in these areas.
- Tutoring is available for children who will be absent from school for at least two weeks (at home or in the hospital) due to illness. Your child should bring his or her schoolwork to the hospital, if possible. An assigned tutor will contact your child's school and develop a plan to cover any missed lessons. Please talk with your nurse or Child Life Specialist for more information.
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Read about our Cardiac Intensive Care Unit...
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