News

Beebe to Implement a New Visitor Policy

09/19/06

Beebe Medical Center will implement a new visitor policy on October 2 that is focused on assuring patient safety and providing a quiet and restful healing environment.

A multidisciplinary Beebe team has worked together to create the policy in response to patient surveys. The highlights of the policy include:

For the comfort of our patients, only two visitors will be allowed in a patient's room at a time. If there are more than two, the additional visitors will be asked to wait in the waiting room.

Children under the age of 12 are generally not allowed as visitors, except under special privilege circumstances. When allowed, healthy children must be accompanied and supervised by an adult and stay in the room of the patient they are visiting.


Special privilege visitors are those identified when the patient care situation has extenuating circumstances as defined by the Nurse Manager, Nursing Supervisor, Charge Nurse and the Patient Relations Department.

Visitors may be asked to leave the patient's room whenever it is necessary for medical care to be rendered, or, whenever, in the judgment of the clinical staff, visiting must be limited due to the patient's condition.

Visitors are not allowed to bring in outside food or beverages for a patient.

Medications must not be brought to the patient without notifying a nurse.


Visitors are kindly asked to comply with the evening announcement when visiting hours are over. Two announcements will be made, one at 8:45 p.m. alerting visitors to the end of regular visiting hours and again at 9 p.m. signifying visiting hours are now over.

Brochures and other literature about the new policy are being developed and will be available once the policy goes into effect. New hospital signs will direct visitors to the lobby information desks where visitors can pick up Visitor Tip brochures. These special brochures will include the room number and direct phone number of the patient they are visiting.

Questions about the policy and special circumstance requests should be directed to either the nursing management on patient's floor, or to a patient advocate through the Beebe Medical Center Patient Relations Department at (302) 645-3547.

Beebe Medical Center is a not-for-profit community medical center with a mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health with the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities we serve. For more information, please visit us online at .