Patient Guide

We are committed to your care. 

Our goal is to provide the best quality care. To do so, we ask for feedback from patients like you. You may be contacted by phone, email or text and asked to complete a confidential survey. Please take the time to complete the survey. Your feedback will help us know what we’re doing well and where we can improve.

Privacy Practices Patient Rights & Responsibilities Concerns About Your Care

Fast facts about your stay. 

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Support for Caregivers

We encourage patients to pick a key person to support them during their hospital stay. Whether you are that primary support person, or just one of many people caring for and supporting your loved one, you can play an important role in making sure your loved one gets the safest and best care both here and beyond the hospital.

Patient and Family Care
We participate in patient- and family-centered care. We believe that family plays an important role in ensuring the health and well-being of patients of all ages. Our goal is to create partnerships among healthcare practitioners, patients and families that will lead to the best outcomes and enhance the delivery of safe, quality, efficient, effective, and timely care.

What to Know Before You Leave
Caregivers can help ensure the best outcome for their loved one after a hospital stay by getting the answers to these three questions:

1. What is the next step for medical care (home or facility, follow-up with primary care physician or physical therapy, etc.)? Help your loved one arrange the details to make this happen—financial plan, transportation, scheduling, etc.
2. What new and former medicines does my loved one need to take? Help your loved one understand the details—timing, dosing instructions, side effects, prescription refills, etc.
3. What health warning signs do I need to watch for and what do I do if they happen? Help your loved one by writing these symptoms down as well as the name and contact number to call.

If you feel like you need a break or help, reach out to friends and family. And consult the resources listed here: National Alliance for Caregiving | Family Caregiver Alliance | Caregiver Action Network 

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Speak Up: You are the Reason We Are Here!

• How Do You Know Us? How Can We Be Sure Who You Are?
• Expect your nurses, doctors, lab workers and others to tell you who they are and what they do. They should always wear a badge with their name and picture.
• Expect us to check your name bracelet and ask your name many times during your stay.
• Be sure your name bracelet is correct.
• Do not take medicine or agree to a test or treatment unless we ask your name and check your name bracelet.
• Don’t be afraid to ask about safety. If you’re having a procedure, for example, ask the doctor to mark the area that is to be operated on, so there’s no confusion in the operating room.
• Pay attention to the care you are receiving. You can help prevent medical errors. The most important way to do this is to talk. Talk to your doctor, nurse and other health care workers. Bringing a family member or friend along can help.
• Make sure your family member or friend understands your preferences for care and your wishes concerning life support and resuscitation.

Do You Have Questions?

• Please ask us when you have questions. If our answers are not clear, please ask again.
• Write down important facts your doctor, nurse or other caregiver tells you, or ask them to write it down for you.
• We don’t want you to feel rushed to sign forms. Read all medical forms and ask questions before signing them. If you don’t understand, ask your doctor or nurse to explain them.
• When you can, bring a trusted family member or friend with you to talk with your doctors and nurses. Let this friend or relative assist you with questions and when you review information.
• Ask your doctor or nurse what might be important to report after you are discharged. Write down, or ask to have written for you, the person or place to call for help after you leave.

It is very important that you call your nurse if you feel that something is wrong with any of the equipment that we may use in the delivery of your health care. Attempting to fix a problem yourself could cause harm. You may be attached to electrical equipment which may beep or alarm, like an IV pump or a heart monitor. For a short time during your stay, you may have tubing connected to your body which may provide you medicine like an IV or drain away fluid like a urine bag. If equipment beeps or you need to use the restroom, please call your nurse. If you have tubing that becomes disconnected, call your nurse as well.

What We Need to Know About You.

Bring all your medicines with you to show your doctor. This includes things like cold medicine, aspirin, vitamins and herbs. This will help your doctor make sure your new medicine does not cause problems with ones you already take.

Tell your doctor if you have any allergies or problems your medicines have caused-- such as a rash or stomach ache. Tell your doctor if you are allergic to latex.

Keep your medicine record up-to-date with any changes or new medicines.

“No one will be denied access to services due to inability to pay and that there a discounted/sliding fee schedule is available.”

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Facts About Your Stay

Advance Directives

Maria Parham Health honors a person’s right to make choices and to decide how they would like to be treated in the event of a life threatening situation. Please click on the following for more information about Advance Directives and related forms (North Carolina):

• Making Your Wishes Known – Living Will and HCPOA

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ATM

For your convenience, an ATM is located on the first level of the hospital near the emergency entrance.

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Bedside Shift Report

We want you to feel comfortable and cared for throughout your stay, so at each nursing shift change—about every 12 hours—your nurse will introduce your new nurse to you. The team will talk about your progress, medicine and tests scheduled for the day. Ask questions. The more you’re involved, the better and safer your care.

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Bedside Technology

During your stay, you may see your doctors and nurses using computers or tablets. These tools help them care for you by providing around-the-clock monitoring, a variety of resources and quick communication with the rest of your healthcare team. If you have any questions, ask your doctor or nurse.

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Cafeteria

Location: Lower Level

• The Cafeteria offers a limited selection between 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. and from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
• Τhere are vending machines located in the John T. Church Waiting Area, near the Emergency Department Waiting Area and in the Surgical Services Waiting Area for your convenience.
• If you have any comments or concerns about your food or nutritional requirements, please speak to your nurse or call the Director of Dietary Services at extension 1339.

Hours:

Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

Lunch: 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Dinner: 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

All visitors are welcome to dine in the cafeteria.

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Calling Your Nurse

Your room is connected to the nursing station via an intercom system. To call for your nurse, press the NURSE call button located at your bedside. If you have any questions on how to use the call button, ask a staff member to show you.

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Cellphones & Video

During your stay, you may see members of your care team using mobile phones. At Maria Parham Health, our staff are permitted to use phones for work-related activities, such as communicating with doctors or other care team members. Employees are not allowed to use phones for non-work-related activities. There are many work-related benefits of cellphones and other communication devices, including access to medical references, clinical tools and patient information.

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Channel Listing for TV

# 3	Channel CBS – WKVT (example)	#	Channel	#	Channel
2	WRPX (ION)	28	Freeform	55	Hallmark
3	WRDC	29	CNN	56	History
4	WUNC (PBS)	30	Discovery	58	Fox News
5	WRAL	31	MTV	59	Food Network
6	TBN	34	TBS	61	WE
8	WNCN	36	Comedy	62	E!
9	WRAY	37	CNBC	63	Nick Jr.
10	WLFL	38	AMC	64	Cartoon Network
11	WTVD (ABC)	39	TLC	65	NBC Sports
12	WUVC	40	Paramount Network	66	VH1 Classic
13	WRAZ	41	HLN	67	TCM
14	News 14	42	The Weather Channel	68	HGTV
15	HSN	44	truTV	69	CMTV
19	EVNE Live	45	MSNBC	70	National Geographic
21	C-SPAN	46	UniMas	71	FX
23	WGNA	49	SyFy	72	Bravo
24	Nickelodeon	50	Fox Sports	73	TNT
25	Animal Planet	51	Golf	74	ESPN
26	VH1	52	BET	75	ESPN2
27	A&E	54	TV Land

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Concerns About Your Care

Please speak with your nurse or nursing supervisor if you have any questions or concerns about your care. If your issue still is not resolved, then contact the hospital patient advocate. You also have the right to file your complaint with either:

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
101 Blair Drive 
Raleigh, NC 27603

Office of Quality and Patient Safety
The Joint Commission
One Renaissance Blvd.
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Website: www.jointcommission.org, then click “Report patient safety event”

Sometimes a healthcare choice can involve an ethical concern—such as a wish to refuse life-saving treatment or a disagreement over advance directives. Our medical ethics committee can help you and those who are here to support you make difficult decisions. For help, contact: Maria Parham Care Management at (252) 436-1263.

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Electrical Appliances

For your safety, we reserve the right to inspect any electrical appliances brought into the hospital.

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Fire Safety

We conduct fire drills from time to time. If you hear an alarm, stay where you are. In an actual emergency, hospital staff will tell you what to do.

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Flowers

Flowers are delivered to patient rooms by individual florists. Please note that flowers are not allowed in Intensive Care Units.

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Gift Shop

Location: Near the information desk at the front entrance of the hospital

Hours of Operation:

Hours vary, dependent upon volunteer availability.

Mon. to Fri.: 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Cash, check and credit cards accepted.

The Gift Shop offers fresh flowers, fine gifts, greeting cards, snacks and much more. Phone orders are accepted, and they will be happy to deliver your order to any patient at our facility. The Gift Shop may be reached at (252) 436-1040.

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Hearing Impaired

We have services available for people who are deaf or hearing impaired. If you need these services, please contact your nurse.

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Hospital Safe for Valuables

There is a safe available in the security office. You may call ext. 1508 or let a nurse know that you need these services. 

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Hourly Rounding

A nurse will visit you every hour during the day and every two hours at night to check on your comfort, help you change positions in bed, assist with trips to the bathroom, and make sure you can reach your phone, call light, and personal items easily.

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Housekeeping Services

It is our goal to provide you a clean and orderly room. If at any time you feel that your room needs housekeeping services, please tell your nurse or call ext. 1182 to leave a message for the Housekeeping Supervisor on call. 

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Interpreters and Translation Services

Interpreter services are available for patients. Please contact your nurse for assistance.

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Lost and Found

If you've lost an item, please visit the unit nurses' station or call 0. 

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Mail

Patients may receive mail during their stay at our hospital. Mail is handled by Volunteer/Guest Services and will be delivered to your room Monday through Friday.  Mail received after your discharge date will be forwarded to your home. Outgoing mail may be left at the information desk, located at the front of the hospital. Flowers may be delivered by individual florists, staff or volunteers. Fresh flowers are not allowed in critical care areas.

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Medicines

Please do not bring any prescription or over-the-counter medicines to the hospital. All medicines you take in the hospital need to be prescribed, filled and given to you by hospital staff. Tell your doctor about any medicines you regularly take. If you still need them, hospital staff will give them to you.

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Parking

Ample parking is available for patients and visitors in front of the hospital. 

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Pastoral Care

If you would like a visit from the chaplain for spiritual care and comfort, please ask your nurse to contact the chaplain on call. Your loved ones also may fill out a request card in the chapel. A chaplain will address your concerns by the next business day after receiving the request. The chapel is always open for prayer and meditation. It’s located on the first floor, near the registration area.

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Patient Meals

Maria Parham's Dietary Services proudly provides nutritious and tasty meals for patients. The diet you are on is determined by your doctor. All special diets meet your nutritional needs and are monitored by a registered dietitian. If you do not have special dietary restrictions, you will be allowed to select your meals from the menu provided to you. Snacks and special dietary needs are available upon request. There will be times when your meals may be delayed due to testing or as a precaution before procedures. 

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Patients with Disabilities

Please be advised that Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) may visit our hospital from time to time. DRNC is the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy System (P&A) for the State of North Carolina. Congress created the P&A System to monitor compliance with respect to the rights and safety of individuals with disabilities, and provide information and training about individual rights and the P&A system. DRNC may visit our hospital for monitoring purposes, which simply means that they will tour our hospital, observe, and speak to patients. Maria Parham Health and DRNC want to ensure that parents and guardians are informed that the P&A will be conducting these monitoring activities and, in the course of such monitoring, may speak informally to individuals with disabilities. If you have any questions concerning DRNC or its monitoring activities, you may contact them at (877) 235-4210 (toll free) or at www.disabilityrightsnc.org.

 

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Personal Belongings and Valuables

Personal care items such as contact lenses, eyeglasses, hearing aids and dentures can be stored in your bedside stand when not in use. Please do not put them on your bed or food tray to help avoid them being lost or damaged. Leave valuables like jewelry or cash at home, or give them to a trusted relative or friend to watch over. If this is not an option, valuables may be locked up by Security at your request. Maria Parham Health cannot be responsible for replacing personal belongings.

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Public Restrooms

For everyone’s health and safety, we ask visitors not to use patient restrooms. Public restrooms are located throughout the hospital. Ask hospital staff to direct you to the nearest one.

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Rapid Response Team

Rapid Response: You can call a critical-care response team to respond if your condition worsens and you do not get the immediate care you need. Dial 1508 on your bedside phone. Tell the operator your name, room number, patient's name and your concern. The Rapid Response Team will be sent to your room. 

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Smoking

Given the serious health hazards of tobacco use, we have chosen to become a 100 percent tobacco-free campus. No smoking or tobacco products will be used while on MPH property, parking lots, associated buildings and vehicles. Patients and visitors are asked not to smoke during their hospital visit.

If You Smoke or Use Tobacco
While you are in the hospital, please do not suffer from nicotine withdrawal. You can receive nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or other appropriate support during your hospital visit. Please ask your nurse for more information.

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Telephone

Using Your Telephone
To place calls outside the hospital, dial 9 and then the number you want to call. To call long-distance using a calling card, credit card or collect, dial 8 for an outside operator.

To reach your nurse, use your call button or call the nurse directly using the phone number listed on the whiteboard.

Calling from INSIDE the hospital? Dial the last five digits only

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TV

Each patient room has a television. Please be considerate of others by keeping the volume down and turning off your TV at bedtime. TVs are controlled by the bedside pillow speaker or side rail controls. Closed captioning is available for the hearing impaired. Ask a staff member if you have any questions on using your TV.

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Vending Machines

There are vending machines near the Emergency Department waiting area and in the Surgical Services waiting area. 

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Visiting Hours

Visiting hours are subject to change. Please ask your nurse for official hours during your stay.

To promote healing and safety and limit infection, some units may limit the number of visitors you can receive at one time.

• • • General Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Note: Patients have the right to choose to receive visitors from among family, friends or other individuals at any time during their stay.
    • Inpatient Rehabilitation: 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. weekdays, 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturdays and 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sundays.
    • Intensive Care Unit: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Note: There may be times when the unit is closed for special situations. These may include, but are not limited to, emergencies, procedures and security issues. One parent or other adult support person is permitted to stay 24 hours a day.

      • • • Visitors are restricted to family and significant others with no more than 2 visitors at a time. Visitors are asked to wait in the ICU waiting room during non-visitation hours. ICU staff will contact you when visitation is permitted. Visitors are not permitted in non-patient areas unless granted by nursing.

          • Visitors with fevers, colds and other contagious illness are discouraged from visiting.

          • Children under the age of 12 are not permitted. Exceptions may be made by the charge nurse.

          • ICU doors are locked and access can be granted by nursing via the intercom. Visitors may contact the ICU Staff by dialing 6300 from the telephone in the waiting room.

    • Medical, Surgical and Progressive Care Units: One family member may stay overnight - if the patient is in a private room - at the discretion of the charge nurse. A parent or guardian must stay with a minor patient at all times. 
    • Women & Infants:

      • • • Children under nine (9) may remain in the hospital main lobby and must be accompanied by an adult at all times unless they are siblings to the new baby.

          • Four (4) visitors maximum per patient at any one time.

          • Only one person may stay at night. They must be an adult 18 years or older.

Visiting Overnight
Overnight visitation with a patient must be coordinated with the charge nurse and/or nurse manager and is only permitted under certain circumstances. If overnight visitation has been approved, you will be given a visitor card by the nurse, who will provide you with instructions for obtaining a visitor pass from the security guard. Please wear this badge and remain in the waiting room or the patient’s room at all times during your overnight visit. We reserve the right to revoke overnight privileges.

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Wifi

Accessing the Wifi
Maria Parham Health is pleased to offer free internet access. The network is named Guest Access and there are no password or encryption settings needed.

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