Being a Patient
We want you to feel as comfortable as possible while visiting the IWK Health Centre. If you have any questions or concerns, please ask any member of your health care team. They are here to help and support you. You may be asked to participate in a research study during your visit to the Health Centre. Participation in any research study is always voluntary and will not affect your care in a positive or negative way. Research, in addition to education and patient care, is one of the three essential activities of our Health Centre
Delayed Bathing
You can expect that your baby will not be bathed in the first day after birth. This is a practice that helps with breastfeeding. It is completely natural for the baby and will help your baby find the breast and latch on sooner.
Accessing the Unit
The Family Newborn & Adult Surgery Unit (FNASU) is located on the 5th Floor of the Women’s building. To promote a more safe and secure environment, the IWK has implemented a swipe card security system on FNASU as well as on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Birth Unit.
The access card security system is in place on these care units 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It was designed with input from our patients and families and reflects their requests for increased security on these units.
Each family staying on our secure units will be given an access card, which will provide around-the-clock access. Visitors will be required to use the telephones that have been installed along with the access card readers outside the entrances to gain access to these units, or make arrangements to be greeted by the families they are visiting.
Please note: The Health Centre has limited cards to give families and will need to reuse them when you leave. So please remember to return your card to the nursing station upon discharge.
The IWK Health Centre is committed to providing a friendly, family-focused and comfortable environment and we hope that these security measures will help add to our patients’ and families’ feeling of support.
Visiting Hours
There are no official visiting hours at the IWK, however, friends and visitors are asked to call ahead to a family member before arriving at the IWK to see when would be an appropriate time to visit. The telephone number to the IWK Switchboard is: (902) 470-8888.
Please keep in mind that if the patient’s stay is a short one, they may prefer to see visitors at home once everyone has rested up a bit.
To maintain patient confidentiality, no information regarding your stay will be given to your friends or family over the phone.
Quiet time is observed on FNASU from 2:00 p.m to 4:00 p.m. daily. Quiet time enhances care by providing adult surgical patients and post partum families with a dedicated time to rest, as well as to allow time for staff to teach new parents important things about their new family. It is intended to improve the overall health and wellness of families so that they are better prepared to go home. The IWK Health Centre asks visitors to please respect the quiet time hours on the unit.
During your stay, your baby will be visited by a staff person with the Nova Scotia Hearing and Speech Clinic. They offer newborn hearing screening services for all newborns admitted to the IWK Health Centre. Their main office is located on the sixth floor, Women’s Building and the Clinic is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday. If your baby is born over the weekend, please arrange for an outpatient appointment by contacting (902) 470-7146.
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