Dear Readers,
Your child has been qualified for a procedure at MEDINET. To help you prepare for the stay in the hospital, we prepared some information. We would appreciate your active help and participation in this process.
A cardiac surgeon or paediatric cardiologist will initially qualify your child for surgical treatment. This will typically take place at the Department of Paediatric Cardiology, Department of Neonatology, Paediatric Cardiology Clinic or Heart Disease Clinic. Following the initial qualification, the child’s parents of legal guardians arrange the date of admission to the hospital with the paediatric cardiac surgeon on the phone. Please remember that it is important to prepare your child for the hospitalisation and discuss with her/him what it may involve. This will help your child get ready for what comes next. If your child can already read, it could be a good idea to show her/him the Charter of Child Patient’s Rights which explains the rights of children in a concise and easy way.
Necessary documents:
Necessary items:
The patients stay in double rooms, and one of the parents or a guardian may be with the child at all times. Parents or guardians stay at the hospital free of charge. It is possible to order meals, which are payable. Parents and guardians may use a fridge at the department, next to the nurses room, or a microwave and a kettle in the social room at the Cardiac Rehabilitation Department.
During the entire stay at the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, our young patients are under a constant supervision of physicians and nurses. If the treatment process allows, parents or guardians can also take care of the child.
Please do not take valuables or large sums of money to the hospital. The hospital is not liable for their loss.
All medical procedures are associated with a certain degree of risk. However, modern anaesthesia is safe and complications are observed very rarely. If you have any doubts, please discuss them with an anaesthesiologist who will explain everything. Please remember that our patients are monitored and supervised by nurses and physicians throughout their stay at the Department of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery and at the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy.
If you feel uncertain, confused or lost, in our hospital you have the opportunity to talk to a psychologist working at the department.
Please remember that nurses can give you information related to the care over the child to facilitate recovery, but regarding the health status and the treatment process, you should ask a physician.
When taking care of your child, please keep in mind the needs of other patients and adjust your behaviour to the situation. It is particularly important to follow the instructions of the medical personnel - they offer invaluable help to you and your child.
The communication between parents / guardians and the child is of utmost importance. Do not tell your child that they won’t feel any pain or that nurses and doctors won’t do anything. Your child may feel they have been misled; it is better to explain what procedures will be performed and for what purpose. Fear in children is often a reaction to the unknown, so it is a good idea to explain, e.g. in the form of a story, the course of examination, blood draw or other activities performed by the medical personnel. Please remember that during examinations the child, not the parent, is the partner in the conversation, and the physician or nurse must bond with the patient and get their trust. If the parents/guardians show trust to the medical personnel, it will be easier to gain the child’s favour. It is a good idea to let the young patient have their favourite toy with them – anything to increase their courage and comfort.
A child under 16 years of age may receive healthcare services only with the permission and in the presence of a legal representative.
If the child is over 16 years old, they may give their consent after having received a complete and comprehensible information about their health status from the physician. They may also refuse a given healthcare service or demand that it is stopped. A separate consent to the hospital stay and all the other tests and medical services must be provided. The consent may be oral, in writing or expressed by a behaviour that leaves no doubts as to the decision taken. A written consent is required in the case of a surgical procedure or if the treatment or diagnostic method is associated with an increased risk to patient’s health or life.
If the child is 16 - 18 years old and does not consent to a healthcare service and their legal representative disagrees with their choice, the decision is made by a guardianship court.