Patient’s Guide
Who’s Who?
At CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital, a team of professionals will care for your child. This means there will be several people involved in the care of your child. Listed below are people you may come in contact with during your stay.
Doctors, Residents, Interns, Medical Students: CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital is a teaching hospital, so in addition to our doctors, you may see residents, medical students and interns. You may also encounter specialists like cardiologists, neonatologists and hematologists. All of these individuals are doctors.
Nursing Staff: Your child’s nurse is responsible for your child’s care. The nurse is the coordinator for all the other disciplines who work with your child. You may also meet Nursing Assistants, Patient Care Assistants (PCAs) or Professional Nursing Students (PNSs). These individuals are part of the health care team, ready to assist your child.
Child Life Specialists: Child Life Specialists offer hospitalized children opportunities to play, learn and express themselves. Family involvement and peer interaction is encouraged.
Environmental Services: Housekeepers are responsible for cleaning your room, bathroom and emptying the trash daily. For additional cleaning, ask your housekeeper. If you have concerns or compliments, use the hospital telephone in your room to call the Environmental Servies Supervisor at 273.6351 or the Environmental Services Directorat 704.2472.
Fresh bed linens are provided as needed. In our commitment to the environment, linens are not changed on a daily basis unless soiled. If you need additional linens, contact a member of our nursing staff.
Registered Dietitians: Registered Dietitians help children and families by providing nutrition therapy to improve health and well-being. They focus on providing nutritional care specific to the needs of your child. If your child is on a special diet, a dietitian can provide education to help you continue special dietary recommendations at home.
Social Services: A state licensed, master’s level, social worker is available to help you and your child deal with stress or problems experienced during hospitalization. The scope of responsibilities of Social Services includes, but is not limited to the following:
- Child & Adult Protective Services.
- Domestic Violence & Crisis Intervention.
- Adoptions & Nursing Home Placements.
- Discharge Planning (including coordination of Home Health Services and arranging delivery of Durable Medical Equipment.)
Spiritual Care: Our CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Spiritual Care staff is available at all times. Your nurse will be happy to call them for you, or dial 0. If you would rather speak with someone who is from your place of worship, our Spiritual Care department will be glad to assist you by contacting them for you. Our prayer chapel is located in the front lobby and is open 24 hours a day. Mass in the prayer chapel is held Mon through Fri at 11:30 a.m. Sunday Mass is held in St. John’s Hall chapel located outside across from the Children’s Emergency Room at 3:30 p.m.
Patient Representative: A Patient representative is available to assist you with any complaints or concerns you may have. A patient representative can be contacted by calling 704.2936 or ask your child’s nurse for assistance.
Hospital-Based School Services: Students are eligible for hospital based school services through San Antonio Independent School District. Eligibility requirements for enrollment are:
- Children must have been previously attended in school, unless they are starting kindergarten.
- You expect 30 inpatient admission days during the school year.
- A physician referral.
A Child LIfe Specialist can answer any questions you may have relatedto school services and facilitate the enrollment process.
Occupational Therapists: Occupational therapists help children improve their independence after illness or injury. They focus on such skills as eating, dressing, grooming and motor skills. They use crafts and exercises as well as special equipment to assist the children.
Physical Therapists: Physical therapists help children relieve pain,regain movement, restore function and rebuild confidence following an illness or injury. They focus on improving walking, strength, endurance and gross motor skills: running, jumping, skipping and balance.
Speech Therapists: Speech therapists work with children who have speech, language, voice and swallowing disorders. They focus on improving a child’s speech production, voice quality, problem-solving skills, memory skills, reading and writing skills, and oral motor skills.
Pharmacists: Pharmacists are on staff 24 hours a day to ensure patients are receiving the proper medications at the proper dosages in a timely manner. They are available to talk with patients and families about medications and to answer questions.
Asthma Educators: Free asthma education is available to patients and their families. If your child has asthma, your doctor may require that the parents or guardians and the patient (if old enough) attend asthma class. If you are unable to attend class during your hospital stay, you may attend on an outpatient basis. Classes are Mon., Wed. and Fri. beginning at 9:30 a.m. Ask your nurse about the location of the class.
Respiratory Therapists: Respiratory therapists work with infants and children who have breathing problems. Your doctor may order respiratory treatments for your child. Different breathing problems may include asthma, atelectasis, pneumonia, RSV, bronchiolitis, croup, cysticfibrosis and others. Some common therapies are listed in the glossary.
Volunteers: Volunteers can assist your child in the playroom or at your child’s bedside with a variety of activities.
Case Management: Case Management is a process used by Registered Nurses to assess the appropriateness of treatment settings, including medical necessity of the stay by doing admission and concurrent stay reviews. Case Managers support the patient’s right to participate in treatment decisions, while assisting the patient in discharge planning. This may include placement in an alternate level of care, coordinating Home Health Services, or arranging delivery of equipment.
