At San Juan Regional Medical Center, our doctors and specially-trained nurses in the Intensive Care Unit closely monitor and care for your loved one. The ICU treats patients with medical-surgical, traumatic, cardiovascular, neurological, nephrological, and pulmonary problems and includes the Progressive Care Unit that aims to provide continuous care for stroke patients.
Visiting hours in the ICU are different from other areas of the hospital because patients in the ICU are usually in critical condition and require undisturbed rest after long procedures and intense treatments. Children under the age of 12 are not allowed in the ICU. However, if you feel an exception should be made, please speak with a nurse.
While we understand the importance of sharing a patient’s condition with the family, our nurses and other hospital staff have a priority to care for the patient. To streamline the process of providing information about a patient, ideally, one member of the family is appointed the spokesperson. This individual receives updates from the nurse and assumes the responsibility for keeping family and friends updated. Please be assured that any significant changes will be reported to the family.
All patients in the ICU are connected to a bedside monitor that relays health information—such as heart rate, breathing patterns, and blood pressure—to the nurses’ station for observation when a nurse is not in the room. Our patients may be connected to other medical equipment including IV pumps that administer medication, catheters to empty urine and record fluid balance, oxygen tubes or face masks, ventilators for breathing support, or machines that monitor brain pressure and how the heart is working. Special alarms on all the equipment alert the nurses to check information, and rarely does an alarm indicate an emergency. If you have questions regarding any machine, please ask the nurse. A better understanding of the equipment will help alleviate fears and anxiety.
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