ICU Visiting Hours & Guidelines

For Family and Friends Who Want to Be There

When your loved one is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), we understand how overwhelming and stressful it can be. Sometimes a patient’s stay in the ICU is planned; sometimes it is quite unexpected. Whatever condition or event, ICU patients all require intensive treatment, monitoring and support that is only available in an ICU.

We also understand how much you want to be there for your loved one. Sometimes, visiting a loved one who is critically ill is not easy. You are an important member of the ICU team and can help in your loved one’s recovery. Members of the ICU staff recognize your contribution to the team and the importance of your visits to the patient’s well-being. They also know that you too need support, reassurance and information.

Visiting Hours

Your help is important in creating a restful environment for your loved one to recover. When planning your visit, know that you are welcome any time; however, the available visiting hours are based on the patient’s condition, required rest time and the caregivers’ shift changes. Therefore, please allow the patient to rest and the caregivers to change shifts by not visiting during the following times:

6:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. (shift change)

1 p.m. – 3 p.m. (patient rest time)

6 p.m. – 8 p.m. (shift change)

Visiting Guidelines

We count on you to help us provide a healing, therapeutic environment for the patient. So that your loved can get the best possible care and conditions for recovery, we offer the following guidelines for visiting:

Reassure and touch your loved one. Even with all the equipment and activity around the patient, a reassuring touch may be just what your loved one needs. If you are fearful of disturbing the patient or the equipment that may be attached or close by, ask a nurse for guidance.

Be there for your loved one. Let the patient know you’re there to help and support. Even just your presence can let your loved one know you care and be more at ease. We recommend that you try to keep visits short and the conversation light so the patient can rest.

Help us help your loved one. We welcome your visits with your loved one. However, if there’s an emergency or we need to perform a special procedure when you’re there, your understanding and cooperation will enable us to help your loved one. You may be asked to leave the room so that we can treat your loved one, but we’ll let you when the patient is ready for you to come back to visit.

Help us create a healthy environment. Your loved one is in the ICU because he or she is critically ill. Please help us create the most healthy environment possible by staying home if you have – or think you might have – a cold, fever, the flu, or if you were recently exposed to a contagious disease.

Feel free to ask about the equipment. There may be a lot of equipment on or around your loved one. If you’re interested in what certain machines do for the patient, please don’t hesitate to ask questions. If you think there may be a problem with the equipment, please be sure to let the nurse know.

Foil balloons, cards and small gifts are welcome, but remember, space is limited. However, due to infection-control requirements, flowers are not allowed.

Children are always welcome to visit. Children can often bring a special and good energy into the ICU and they are always welcome to visit. However, if they are sick, please keep them at home and bring them to the ICU when they are better. To help your loved one be ready for a child’s visit, please ask the nurse to help when the child arrives.

Please use your cell phone in the family waiting room or the main lobby.

Phone calls to the ICU remove the nurse from patient care. You can help the nurse be more available for your loved one and other patients by selecting one family member to serve as spokesperson during the patient’s stay in the ICU.

Any information by phone will only be given to the spokesperson. According to federal regulations (HIPPA), we are prohibited from giving patient information without patient consent.

There is a visitor waiting room just outside the ICU with a phone, various reading materials, free coffee and tea in the Cascades Café and in the lobby. There is also gourmet food at the Corner Deli on the first floor, between the entrance and the lobby, and the Cascades Café on the second floor. If you have questions, please ask your nurse or the volunteer at the front desk.