Cardiac ward and hemostaseology - level 8
Patients from newborns to adolescents with congenital heart defects or acquired heart disease are treated as inpatients on our cardiac ward (pediatric cardiology intermediate care (IMC) ward level 8). The majority of children are cared for here as part of an operation for a heart defect or a cardiac catheter - but patients with inflammatory heart disease (myocarditis), cardiac arrhythmia or after a heart transplant are also treated here. One focus of the ward is the care of children who require an artificial heart due to severe heart failure (cardiac insufficiency) and are waiting for their heart transplant.
The team treating the patients is made up of paediatric cardiologists and qualified nursing staff as well as nursing assistants - all of whom have many years of specialization in the field of paediatric cardiology in addition to a sound training in paediatrics. The team is supported by physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists as well as nutritionists and social workers. In addition, the cardiac ward control centre right next to the ward entrance is available to assist patient parents with all organizational matters.
Patients who require intensive medical treatment are accommodated - depending on their age - in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), the neonatal intensive care units (NICU, 9c) or the anesthesiology ward A7. The pediatric cardiology team is also involved in the treatment there on a consultative basis.
Equipment: The cardiac ward (pediatric cardiology IMC ward) is located on level 8 of the pediatric clinic and is generally equipped for 20 children and their accompanying persons. With the exception of one four-bed room, which is used in particular for infants transferred from the intensive care unit following heart surgery, the ward consists exclusively of two-bed rooms, each with its own bathroom. Each patient's vital parameters (ECG, oxygen saturation, respiration) are continuously monitored. In the interests of patient safety, these monitors can be viewed by the nursing staff from several points on the ward.
Each patient bed also has a bed for an accompanying adult, so that every child can have at least one parent around them at all times. Televisions and tablets are installed in the patient rooms, which are available in particular for older children who are not yet able to leave their beds.
Common room: Parents can retreat to this room, eat something and simply relax. A television is also installed in this room.
In order to minimize the possibility of infection, we ask parents not to bring siblings with colds or other infectious diseases to the ward.
Visiting hours: Daily from 08:00 to 20:00 To minimize the risk of infection, a maximum of two relatives per patient are allowed in the patient's room at any one time. In the context of virus pandemics, restrictions on this visitor regulation may become necessary.
Meals: Breakfast (08:00), lunch (11:30) and dinner (16:30) can be arranged according to the children's preferences. Parents who are admitted with their children receive their meals together with the children. In addition to special diets, which are prepared according to medical requirements, we also provide vegetarian meals and meals without pork. Tea and juices are also available to the children outside of mealtimes.
Breastfeeding: Mothers usually breastfeed their children in the patient's room. Mothers who express their milk can do so in our quiet breastfeeding room. Mothers who express breast milk at home are given storage bottles, which can be brought along refrigerated and then stored properly on the ward.
Cardiac ultrasound: The ultrasound room is located in the center of the cardiac ward, where cardiac ultrasound examinations (echocardiographies) are carried out, especially during inpatient admission and before discharge. Mobile equipment is available for the days immediately after a heart operation or catheter intervention so that the examination can be carried out directly at the patient's bedside. The ultrasound equipment is regularly adapted to the latest state of the art - in addition to “conventional” echocardiography, modern functional examinations of cardiac performance and 3D echocardiography are also possible here.
Medical rounds: Medical rounds take place daily from 9.30 a.m. - once a week there are also chief rounds with our head of department, Prof. Michel-Behnke. The medical team is available to answer your questions about your child's condition and the next steps planned, both during the ward round and independently of it.
Here you can find more information about psychological care in pediatric cardiology.