Patient Experience

Your Child’s Day

How will your child spend the day? While in the hospital, your child will take part in many scheduled activities. Daily routines provide our patients with a sense of structure and familiarity that can help put them at ease and aid in their recovery, and they can also benefit from the company of other young patients.

Below is an example of what a patient’s daily schedule might look like. We are happy to provide you with a copy of your child’s schedule, which does vary from day to day.

Daily Schedule

8:00 - 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 - 8:45 am
Stretch
8:45 - 9:15 am
Milieu meeting: for daily updates, questions, and goal-setting
9:15 - 11:00 am
School (younger patients will have breaks and shortened times)
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Therapeutic groups
12:00 - 12:30 pm
Lunch
12:30 - 1:15 pm
Therapeutic groups/individual work
1:30 - 2:30 pm
School
2:30 - 4:15 pm
Therapeutic groups/individual work
5:00 - 5:30 pm
Dinner
5:30 - 6:15 pm
Room rest/therapeutic work
6:30 - 8:30 pm
Therapeutic groups and visiting time
8:30 - 8:45 pm
Snack and relaxation time
9:00 pm
Getting ready for bed

Meals

Meals are served according to the following schedule:

  • Breakfast 8:00 am
  • Lunch 12:00 pm
  • Dinner 5:00 pm

In addition, snacks are provided and available during the day and at bedtime.
Families may bring in food for their child, but all items must be checked in with staff upon arrival. Glass containers and cans are not allowed because they are unsafe.

Family Presence and Visitation

You and your child’s social worker will make a list of approved visitors. To preserve the privacy of all patients, friends are not allowed to visit on the unit.
Family members are welcome to visit the unit at any time. Because much of your child’s day is spent in scheduled group activities that are important for recovery, we do ask that you wait to meet with your child outside of any scheduled group time. Please check with the staff if you are unsure when your child will be involved in group activities.

These are generally the best times to visit:

Monday - Friday: 5:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Saturday, Sunday, and Holidays: 9:00 am - 8:30 pm

We also invite you to attend family-centered rounds as another way to be involved in your child’s care. This is the time when the medical treatment team visits with you and your child to discuss and exchange ideas about the plan for care.

Once your child has been evaluated and is participating in his or her treatment and recovery, the medical treatment team may approve a pass to travel off the unit with staff and/ or family. Passes provide your family an opportunity to walk around the hospital together, eat in the hospital cafeteria, and visit with each other outside the unit. Nursing staff approval is also required at the scheduled time of the pass.

Telephones

Although your child is not permitted to have a cell phone or other devices that can connect to the internet, telephones are available for patient use during the following hours:

  • Monday - Friday: 3:15 pm - 9:00 pm
  • Saturday and Sunday: 8:30 am - 9:00 pm

To speak with your child during the hours above, please dial the patient hall numbers, or call the nursing station and ask to be connected to your child. Please note that these phones are turned off during scheduled activities, appointment times, groups, and meals. If you are unable to reach your child through the hall phones, or if you need to reach your child urgently, please dial the nursing station at any time.