Hospital Admissions

As parents ourselves, we understand that having your child admitted to the hospital can be scary. Our goal is not only to diagnosis and treat your child but to make your hospital experience as calm and pleasant as possible. If you have any immediate concerns or questions that cannot be addressed by your nurse, then please give our office a call at 865-546-3998 (Monday – Friday 8:15am – 4:00pm).

During your stay, our physician on call as well as Kelly Earnest, NP, our inpatient coordinator, will see you. We will see you each day you are in the hospital if we are your primary provider. If your primary provider is from the hospital or another specialty and we are requested to be involved in your child’s care, then we may not see you every day but will be in contact with your primary providers every day. Depending on your diagnosis, you may also see providers from other specialties within the hospital. We encourage you to keep a list of questions so that have those available when we come to see you and your child.

Admission from the office:

Your child may be admitted during their appointment if your provider feels that they need immediate testing or treatment that cannot be done on an outpatient basis. We will discuss with you what tests, treatments, and/or procedures that we expect to do while your child is in the hospital. When you arrive at the hospital, you will go to the Admitting, where they will get your information, consent to treat, copy of your child’s insurance card, and any other information they may need such as legal documents. Once your child’s room is ready, you will be directed to your child’s hospital room.

Admission from the Emergency Department:

You child may be admitted during a trip to the emergency department at Children’s Hospital if the doctor feels that they need to stay overnight for further testing, treatment, or procedures. If this is the case, the emergency department doctor will discuss with you what to expect during your stay. Unless your child is needing an emergent procedure you will usually not see the on call doctor from GI For Kids in the emergency department but they will see you in your room later that day.

Admission from home:

There may be times that your child will be admitted directly from home. These admissions are usually pre-scheduled. You will bring your child to Admitting at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital at the time requested, where you will sign in on the iPad at the desk. They will get your information, consent to treat, copy of your child’s insurance card, and any other information they may need such as legal documents. Once your child’s room is ready, you will be directed to your child’s hospital room.

Once you are in your room, your nurse and other hospital staff will obtain your child’s vital signs, medical history, medications, allergies, and any other pertinent information. If we have ordered immediate testing and or treatment; such as IV’s, medications, lab work, NG tube, radiology; then your nurse may go ahead and start those.

Please Bring The Additional Following Items: