intensive care is a slightly different kind of service, so you will usually be asked to introduce yourself to the reception staff when you arrive in the ICU. The care team will explain certain aspects of the department's organization before directing you to the unit or room where your loved one is being cared for.
In intensive care, there is a wide range of treatments, all very precisely organized. To ensure patient comfort and privacy, you may be asked to leave the room during treatment.
intensive care care patients are particularly fragile, so hygiene measures are essential to avoid the risk of infection. In some cases, the patient may be a contaminant, and hygiene measures are designed to protect you too. During visits, you will be asked to :
Always wash yourhands on entering and leaving the room.
Avoid visits from anyonecarrying a contagious disease. If in doubt, and at the slightest symptom, wear a mask.
Flowers and plants can carry germs that are harmless for healthy people, but dangerous for frail patients in intensive care.
Keeping your hands clean: the main rules
Most contaminations (viruses, bacteria, etc.) are "hand-to-hand", i.e. it's via hand contamination that germs pass from one host to another. That's why it's vital to make sure your hands are hygienically clean when you enter the room of someone who is fragile (and when you leave the room of someone who is contagious). Please note: door handles and all surfaces touched collectively are to be considered "dirty zones" and require hand washing after touching.
Washing with soap and water should be carried out whenever hands are visibly soiled. Hand rubbing with hydro-alcoholic gel (FHA) can be used on visually clean hands, whenever necessary. To avoid bringing germs into the room, hands should be washed on entry, and self-contact should be avoided as far as possible (e.g. touching the face), or washed again each time before returning to the patient. Conversely, if the person you're visiting is a carrier of germs, remember to perform hand hygiene (soap or FHA) between the times when you touch the patient or his or her belongings and the times when you touch. Of course, you should also wash your hands after leaving the room.
Why wear a mask?
There are two main types of hospital masks:
Surgical masks
FFP2 masks
The difference is one of filtration and shape. The surgical mask retains droplets and prevents contamination by larger particles. The FFP2 is only used in the event of contamination by certain viruses with smaller contaminating particles.
There are two reasons for wearing a mask: to protect the patient from possible contamination by visitors, or conversely, to protect visitors from possible contamination by the patient. If you have symptoms such as rhinitis (runny nose), sore throat, fever, digestive symptoms, etc., it's best to avoid visiting your particularly fragile loved one. If in doubt, ask for a mask before entering the room. If you have to wear a mask, it's vital not to take it off while you're in the room. Exceptionally, we don't kiss!
And the blouses?
Gowns are designed to protect your clothing in the event of the patient carrying certain particularly resistant germs, or conversely, in the event of the patient having a significant immune deficiency, the gown you wear protects him/her from the contribution of any external germs that may be on your clothing.
Visits from relatives are extremely valuable for patients, but the limits set by the ICU must be respected. intensive care rooms are not only a place where patients and their families are welcomed, but also a place of care. Most departments set a maximum number of simultaneous visits per room, for several reasons: to limit the risk of contamination of the patient by outside germs, to facilitate the intervention of caregivers in the event of an emergency or simply to enable them to continue providing care at any time of the day, and finally to avoid over-stimulation of the patient, who needs rest and calm during his or her stay in intensive care.
Témoignage de KatiaPenser les visites
It's important to consider who will visit the patient: anyone hospitalized in intensive care is in a state of great vulnerability, and does not necessarily wish to be seen in this state. It may be wise to limit visits to those who are closest and most intimate.
Moreover, intensive care care often requires patients to be naked under a light gown. Although the nursing teams take great care to preserve their privacy, patients may occasionally move and uncover themselves. Please have your visit announced before entering the room, so that we can ensure that the patient's modesty is respected.
Also, out of respect for the privacy of all other patients on the ward, you will be asked not to remain in the corridors, but to go to the waiting room if you are asked to leave the patient's room. If you wish to call the team at your loved one's bedside, you may use the patient's doorbell, but under no circumstances may you go to another room to fetch the carers.
Visits from children in intensive care are often permitted, but must be carefully supervised. The child must have expressed a desire to visit the patient, and must be prepared by the team: simple explanations first, then accompaniment to the room. It's also important to discuss the visit with the child afterwards, so as not to leave him or her with images or feelings that are too difficult to deal with alone. Bear in mind that what impresses a child is not always what impresses an adult.
Feel free to bring drawings your children have made for the patient: they can be hung in the room.
Find out more about intensive care for visiting children.