your rights and responsibilities

1. To get the best care possible. Race, religion, sex, age, disability, cultural status or national origin will not affect the quality of care.
2. To be treated with courtesy and respect at all times. Personal values, cultural and spiritual beliefs will be respected as long as they don’t interfere with the well-being of others or the medical care planned. If needed, the hospital can help you or your child with resources to meet psychosocial and spiritual needs.
3. To have personal privacy and confidentiality within the limits of the law.
4. To have safe care and surroundings as much as possible.
5. To have pain relief, including a quick response to reports of pain by concerned staff members who are committed to pain prevention and management.
6. To know the name of the doctor or caregiver in charge of your child’s care and to know the name and job of others caring for you or your child.
7. To have the doctor in charge give you complete information about your child’s condition, care and what to expect. This information is given to you in words you can understand.
8. To have visitors unless there are restrictions due to an outbreak of a communicable disease. And, to be able to talk with or see people outside the hospital.
9. To have an interpreter if needed (child or family member is unable to see, hear, speak or understand English).
10. To see your child’s medical record as permitted by law and to have help in understanding the information in the medical record.
11. To be involved in your child’s care as much as possible. To do so your child will have
    
    • Complete information about your child’s condition
    • Complete information on planned treatment
    • If experimental treatment is recommended for research and/or education, you will receive a full explanation which includes: details on any risks, recovery and success rates
    • Information on other treatments available when they are considered appropriate.
12. To ask that a specialist (a doctor who is an expert on your child’s problem) see your child. One of Dayton Children’s doctors needs to submit this request in writing.
13. To refuse treatment (except when those treatments are required by law). If you refuse treatment that your child’s doctor feels is necessary for good medical care, he or she has the right to stop being your child’s doctor.
14. To know all the reasons that make it necessary to transfer your child to another hospital or health care facility. Your child also have the right to know about other options.
15. To ask for and get a complete list and explanation of all charges that you may be billed for.
16. To get information when your child is admitted. Information should include Dayton Children’s patient rights policy, how patient complaints are resolved and information on the bioethics committee
17. To develop advance directives (patients 18 years of age and older) and appoint a surrogate to make health care decisions on your child’s behalf
18. To get information on ways to help children who have had a long absence from school.
19. To have freedom from the use of restraints, except when medically indicated.
20. To be informed of hospital rules and regulations.
21. To have protective services as needed.
22. To know why your child experienced unanticipated results due to a change in the care plan.
23. To file a complaint or grievance about patient care, abuse or neglect, or ethical issues.

• To give complete and honest information about:
  
  • Present sickness or condition
  • Past sickness or condition
  • Past hospital stays
  • Medicines
  • Anything else that might affect your child’s health
  • Advance medical directives as appropriate
• To follow the treatment plan recommended by your child’s doctor. This includes
  
  • Instructions from nurses and other health professionals who are carrying out the physician’s orders and enforcing hospital rules and regulations
  • Keeping appointments and notifying the responsible physician or hospital if you cannot do so
• To accept responsibility for what happens if you refuse treatment or do not follow the physician’s instructions.
• To tell the doctor or nurse when your child is in pain. To work with the doctor and nurse to develop a pain management program.
• To pay your child’s medical bills on time.
• To follow hospital rules and regulations.
• To respect the rights of other patients and hospital personnel.

At Dayton Children’s, we realize that there may be times when a patient, parent or legal guardian has questions about decisions and actions related to their care. The first step in getting your questions answered is to talk directly with your child’s physician or the hospital department. In cases of disagreement or concern regarding patient care, abuse or neglect, or ethical issues, the patient, family, or legal guardian may submit a verbal or written grievance to our patient relations department.

If you have a concern, please contact or talk to:

• The caregiver or person in charge
• The doctor or hospital department
• The patient representative at 937-641-3306
• The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) at 1-800-342-0553
• The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) at 1-800-994-6610

OR write:

• Patient relations department at One Children’s Plaza Dayton, Ohio 45404-1815
• Ohio Department of Health at 246 North High Street, P.O. Box 118 Columbus, Ohio 43266-0118

You may also call patient relations at 937-641-3306 if you want to contact the bioethics committee at Dayton Children’s.