This information answers many frequently asked questions when you or a loved one is admitted to Riverside Doctors' Hospital Williamsburg for an overnight stay.
Calling for assistance
Every patient bed is equipped with a “nurse call” device. The device may be built into the side-rail of the bed and or may be attached to a cord on the wall. When you want to contact the nurse, push the Red button on the device and your call will be answered. If you are unable to use your hands, we can make a pillow pad device available for you to use. We will teach you how to use all devices as part of the orientation we give you to your room.
Coordinating your care with Care Management
The Care Management department works with patients and families to coordinate their care to ensure a safe transition to home or your next level of care. Care Coordinators help patients and family members develop a discharge plan based on the patient's functional, physical, medical, psychosocial, emotional, cultural and spiritual needs. You can contact Care Management at 757-585-2040 or 757-585-7953 Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. During evening and weekend hours, call the nursing supervisor at 757-503-2249.
Flowers
If someone sends you flowers or balloons during your hospital stay, the florist or their delivery service will bring them to you. If the flowers arrive after you go home, we'll ask the florist to deliver to your home instead.
Hearing impaired assistance
If you or your family members are hearing impaired, we can provide telecommunication devices and certified sign language interpreters. Hearing amplifiers, TDDYs, volume controls on pay phones and patient phones, and closed captioning on patient televisions are all available. Additionally, we can provide nationally certified sign language interpreters through our DeafTalk service. Please notify your nurse if you need any of these services.
Housekeeping/Environmental Services
Housekeeping/Environmental Services representatives provide cleaning and housekeeping services to your room daily.
Leaving the hospital
Your physician determines when you are medically ready to leave the hospital and will write this in your medical chart. Please make arrangements with a family member or friend to help you when it is time to be discharged to home.
Your doctor and or nurse will give you care instructions before you go home. These instructions may cover medical care at home; future appointments; diet; activities; medications; medical supplies or equipment; or other things. Please be sure you understand these instructions and feel free to ask us to explain anything that you don't understand. If you have questions about your care after you arrive home, contact our free health information service, Riverside Nurse at 757-595-6363.
Before you leave, check your room carefully for personal belongings. If you have any valuables or home medications stored in the hospital, notify your nurse so that we can arrange for those belongings to be brought to you before you leave. If, after you arrive home, you believe you have left personal belongings at the hospital, please contact our Safety and Protection Department at 757-585-2280.
Mail and Other Deliveries To Your Room
Hospital Volunteers donate their time and talents to perform many duties within the medical center, including sorting and delivering the mail to patients’ rooms each day. We keep a log of registered or certified mail, and you or your family member will be required to sign for it. After you go home, we will forward any cards and letters to your home address.
Medications
All patients who come to the hospital should bring a list of the medications they take on a regular basis. This list should include prescription drugs as well as “over-the-counter” medication, herbal remedies and supplements.
All medications you take while you are in the hospital are prescribed by your doctor, dispensed by the hospital pharmacy, and administered by a nurse. Patients are not permitted to administer their own drugs or keep personal medications at their bedsides; except under special, approved circumstances.
Prescriptions given to you when you leave may be filled in any local retail pharmacy. The Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg’s inpatient Pharmacy is not licensed to dispense outpatient prescriptions and will not be able to accommodate your requests if you present discharge prescriptions.
Nutrition Services
Wholesome, nourishing and well-balanced meals contribute to your good health and help speed recovery. Our nutrition services staff prepares nutritious meals that follow doctor’s orders and match your preferences as much as possible. There is also a hospital café located on the first floor that offers a variety of food choices.
Non-English speaking patients
Foreign language interpretation is available through our interpreter phone system. Within a few minutes, we can connect to interpreters of more than 250 languages. Additionally, we have select patient education materials, such as videos and handouts, available in Spanish. Please notify your nurse if you need any of these services.
Oxygen
If you are receiving oxygen as part of your treatment, you'll be provided special instructions during your hospital stay. For example, electrically operated equipment and aerosol products are not permitted in areas where oxygen is in use. Absolutely no smoking is permitted in any room in the hospital.
Protecting your privacy
Any personal information about your diagnosis and treatment must come from your physician; and this information is only available to members of your immediate family or others whom you designate to receive it. [For more information see: Notice of Privacy and Information Practices]
Smoking
Riverside Doctors; Hospital Williamsburg’s mission is to promote health in our team members, patients and the community. In support of this goal Riverside is a tobacco-free campus. Tobacco use is not allowed in any building, parking area or any surrounding grounds. Tobacco products are defined as cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and all smokeless tobacco, such as chewing tobacco and snuff. Thank you for your assistance.
Television
Cable television is available in every patient room.
Valuables or lost items
If you need to keep personal items such as dentures, eyeglasses, or custom appliances, please make sure that your nurse or caregivers know that you have these items so they can be safeguarded. The hospital is not responsible for lost or broken items unless these items were taken into our care, custody and control.
Please don’t bring items of value to the hospital. If you do bring a valuable item, please ask for a “valuables envelope.” We will attach a receipt to this envelope where you will list the contents, your name, date of birth, and address. Once you have put the item(s) in the envelope, you will observe the nurse seal, initial, and staple the envelope closed. The nurse will take the envelope to the Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg Protection Department where an officer will write a note that the envelope was received. The nurse will place a copy of the receipt in your medical record until you are discharged. Upon discharge, you will take the receipt to the Protection Department for retrieval of your items.
The hospital does not accept responsibility for items of value unless they are stored using the valuables envelope and the receipt is initialed appropriately. If you lose something, please notify your nurse right away, and we will make every effort to help you find it. Unclaimed articles are turned in to the Protection Department, where they are kept for 30 days. To inquire about lost items, please contact the Protection Department at 757-585-2280.
Wheelchairs
Wheelchairs are available on the nursing units, but getting in and out of them without assistance or instruction may be hazardous. Please ask for help from a member of the nursing staff.
OTHER INFORMATION
Fire drills
The hospital conducts fire and disaster drills regularly so that all staff members will be fully prepared in case of an emergency. If a drill occurs while you are here, please remain in your room and do not become alarmed. The hospital is a fire-resistant building, and the staff is trained in fire protection.
Medical staff
The physician who admits you is responsible for directing your care while you are a patient in the hospital. If your doctor does not admit patients to this facility or prefers to use the services of a “hospitalist” physician, we will assign a physician to direct your care. You should consult your physician, as the coordinator for your treatment program, if you have questions about your medical care.
Nursing staff
A team of professional registered nurses and nursing assistants will provide your nursing care, 24-hours a day. A nurse manager is responsible for directing and coordinating nursing care on each unit. Please speak to your nurse or the nurse manager if you have questions or concerns.