My UAB Medicine Toolkit Pateint Guide | Page 20

• After the Visit Despite preparation, children may be very emotional when they leave. If the patient looks very different, have a picture ready of the patient before they got sick and remind the child this is the person they visited. Suggest that they remember how he or she looked before this happened and the fun things they did together. Guidelines for Babies Visiting We understand the importance for patients, especially parents or grandparents, to see their children or grandchildren. However, babies under nine months old have weaker immune systems. The following precautions are intended to keep the baby safe while visiting: • Staff should not hold or touch your baby. • Parents should not set the baby down on the floor or on the patient’s bed. • Please do not feed or change the baby’s diaper in the patient’s room. Visiting a Patient with Isolation Precautions You may be asked to wear a gown, gloves, and mask while visiting a patient with isolation precautions. Do NOT wear these items outside of the room as that spreads germs. • Clean hands before entering the room and immediately upon exiting the room. • Please do not bring infants younger than nine months old to visit patients with isolation precautions. uabmedicine.org 17