Preparing for Heart Surgery
At the Children’s Heart Center, we guide patients and families through each phase of treatment. We want children and their family members to be prepared for heart surgery in order to help reduce anxiety, keep children safe during and after their surgery, and help them recover as soon as possible.
Once your child’s heart surgery is scheduled, you will receive an information packet that includes a pre-surgery checklist, forms and other helpful materials.
Call our cardiothoracic surgery schedulers at 404-785-0504 if you have any questions about pre-surgery instructions.
MyChart is a secure online tool designed to streamline your child's care. With MyChart, you can securely connect with your child's healthcare team, view test results and access medical information 24 hours a day.
In the weeks leading up to heart surgery, it is very important you review and complete the steps below to help ensure your child’s surgery remains on schedule.
Insurance or address changes
Call our cardiothoracic surgery office at 404-785-6330 if you have any insurance changes or a change of address.
Dental consult
Your child needs a dental consult before their heart surgery. All cavities must be treated at least two weeks before surgery. More extensive procedures must be completed at least four weeks before surgery.
Download the Dental Consult Form
Your child’s dentist must complete the form the cardiothoracic surgery office provides to you. Email or fax the completed dental form to our office at least two weeks before your child’s surgery.
Email: CPGCTSurgeryScheduling@choa.org
Fax: 404-785-6266
Medications
Your child may need to stop certain medications before heart surgery. Your child’s care team will advise you of these instructions.
Immunizations
If your child is due for immunizations within two weeks of surgery, please call our cardiothoracic surgery scheduler at 404-785-0504 before getting any shots.
Give your child a bath:
- Give your child a bath with soap and water each of the three nights before surgery to help prevent infection.
- The night before surgery, you will also use a special skin cleaner called CHG if your child is older than 2 months. CHG removes more germs than soap and water and stays on the skin to keep killing germs over time. This helps decrease the risk of infection with surgery. This is a very important step to complete. Closely follow instructions from your child’s care team.
- Wash your child’s hair with shampoo the night before surgery.
After the bath:
- Dress your child in clean pajamas and put clean sheets on their bed.
- Do not use oil, moisturizer, lotion, powder or any other products on your child’s skin.
Wash your child’s comfort items:
- If you plan to bring your child’s favorite blanket or stuffed animal, wash them 24 hours before surgery.
- If you forget to wash your child’s blanket or stuffed animal, we will ask you to wash them in our hospital family washing machines before your child can use them.
Be sure to also:
- Remove jewelry and nail polish.
- Remove contact lenses before arrival or bring your child’s contact case.
Preoperative clinic (pre-op)
One week before heart surgery, your child’s care team will call to help ensure you have instructions for their pre-op clinic visit, including where to go and what time to arrive. They will also confirm you sent your completed dental form.
Your pre-op visit will take place one day before surgery at 7 a.m. If your child’s surgery is scheduled for a Monday, your visit will be scheduled for the Friday prior. Please plan to be there for a full day.
Getting to Arthur M. Blank Hospital
Arthur M. Blank Hospital is located on our North Druid Hills campus at 2220 North Druid Hills Road NE in Atlanta.
The hospital has two parking decks. Please be sure to park in the Visitor parking deck. This deck is reserved for patients, families and visitors who do not need emergency care.
- After parking, take the stairs or elevator down to P1.
- Follow the green directional signage that says "To Hospital."
- Follow the walkway from the parking garage to the hospital front entrance with the double doors.
You will have the chance to meet and ask questions of your child’s care team, including the pediatric heart surgeon, cardiac anesthesiologist and other specialists. Your care team will walk you through steps to prepare for heart surgery and what to expect on the day of surgery. You will be asked to sign a consent form that gives us permission to perform your child’s surgery. They will also provide printed instructions to take home.
Your care team will ask about your child’s health history and do a physical exam. Your child will get blood tests and a chest X-ray. They may also need an echocardiogram.
Your care team will let you know when your child should stop eating and drinking the night before heart surgery. It is crucial you follow these steps to avoid delays and to help keep your child safe.
During your visit, your care team will teach you how to use CHG skin cleaner.
Your care team will provide printed resources to aid you in your journey to the Heart Center, such as a map, date of surgery and arrival time, parking information and instructions for checking in.
Reminders
- Follow the eating and drinking instructions given to you by the Heart Center team. Your child’s surgery may be delayed or cancelled if you do not follow them.
- Your child’s legal guardian must speak with the doctor and sign papers that will allow us to do the surgery. Surgery cannot be performed if these are not signed.
- Make sure you plan ahead and arrive on time the day of surgery.
- Remember to bring your photo I.D.
Parking is located in the Visitor Lot next to Arthur M. Blank Hospital.
After parking, take the elevator or stairs down to floor P1 and follow the directional signage to the front doors.
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Follow the covered walkway and enter the hospital front entrance through the double doors.
When you arrive at the hospital and pass through the metal detectors, please check in with registration at the front desk.
The Children's Heart Center check-in desk is located on the fourth floor.
What to bring to the hospital
Before walking out the door to go to the hospital, check to make sure you have:
- Any paperwork your child’s care team has given you.
- Your photo I.D.
- A list of medicines your child takes, including over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, supplements and herbal medicines.
- Your child’s glasses (if needed). Remove your child's contacts before arrival or bring a contact lens case.
- Your child’s clean comfort item: favorite blanket or stuffed animal. Comfort items must be washed 24 hours before surgery.
- A phone charger (if needed).
- A packed bag of the items you need for your child’s hospital stay.
When you arrive at the hospital and pass through the metal detectors, please check in with registration at the front desk. Then go to the Heart Center check-in desk on the fourth floor.
Reminders:
- Parents cannot leave the hospital while their child is in surgery.
- Patients will be taken into the operating room by a nurse. Parents and guardians are NOT allowed to walk their child to the operating room at our hospital locations.
- Please note that we only allow eating in the family kitchen, not in the waiting room.
Operating room staff will call you once surgery starts and then call every one to two hours. Once the surgery is complete, you will receive a text letting you know to return to the fourth floor waiting room. A member of our Heart Center surgery waiting room team will escort you to a consult room, where the surgeon will give you details about your child's surgery.
Food and drinks are available in The Eatery on the first floor and the coffee shop on the second floor. There are also vending machines on the first floor near the eatery.
Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU)
After heart surgery, your child will be moved to a private room in the CICU. The care team will let you know when you can see your child. We encourage you to stay overnight with your child if possible. Up to two parents or guardians may stay at once.
Your care team will closely monitor your child’s heart rhythm, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, oxygen, temperature and pain level throughout their stay.
Talk with your care team about:
- The different tubes, wires and equipment you see. You will hear different alarms. Alarms help the team know when attention is needed for vital sign changes, medication pumps and other equipment.
- How they keep your child comfortable and treat their pain.
- How you can support your child in the CICU. Ask your child’s nurse if it is OK to touch or pat your child. There may be times when your child must rest without being touched. Please do not move your child without help from our team.
Your child’s safety is important to us. Your care team can help explain the importance of these hygiene tasks to help decrease the risk of infection:
- Hand hygiene. This includes when to wash your hands or use alcohol-based gel or foam. Important: Be sure to clean your hands when you enter the CICU and again when you enter your child’s room.
- Mouth care.
- Baths and linen changes.
- Room hygiene.
Parents are encouraged to participate in family-centered rounds each day. This is a time when:
- Doctors, nurses and other care team members meet together right outside your child’s room.
- Everyone talks as a team about your child’s progress and plan of care.
- You can ask questions, provide input and share concerns.
Your providers will come in the morning to round and will let you know about the plan of care for the day.
CICU visitor restrictions
- Only two people (parents or visitors) are allowed in your child’s room.
- Visitors must be older than 12 years of age.
- Visiting hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. for anyone other than parents or guardians.
- Parents and visitors must either stay in their child’s room or step out of the CICU during shift change. Shift change happens in the morning and in the evening.
Cardiac Acute Care Unit (CACU)
The CACU is an exciting step in your child’s recovery when they are well enough to leave the CICU but need continued care before being discharged home. Located on the fifth floor of Arthur M. Blank Hospital, your child will be moved to the CACU once they are medically stable.
While your care team will continue to monitor your child, they will also provide you with education to help prepare you to care for your child at home. As a parent, you need to be involved in your child’s care, which includes helping with baths, changing diapers, feeding your child, giving medications and speaking up when you have questions or concerns. Children do their best when they have a caregiver present with them at all times.
- Your CACU nurse will have more patients than your nurse in the CICU. While this means your nurse will not be able to spend as much time in your room as they did in the CICU, you can rest assured that they will still be providing the same high-quality care to which you are accustomed.
- You may notice a change in your child's equipment. This equipment will continuously monitor your child's heart and allow your child to move around more.
Important things to know:
- Use the call light or phones to let your nurse know when you have a concern, need help or if your child appears to be in pain.
- We will closely watch your child’s vital signs. Let your nurse know if you have questions about the different alarms.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water. This is important before touching your child, and after eating, using the restroom, and coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose.
- There is a snack cart provided by the Feed the Heart program, with snacks and drinks donated for you and your child. We have a family kitchen where you can cook meals or store food in the fridge, as well as laundry facilities on each floor.
- Know what medications your child takes and what they are used for. Ask your nurse if you are not sure.
Each child has different needs after surgery. Your care team will assess your child's heart, respiratory, nutrition, medication, rehabilitation and developmental needs. They will work with you to create a plan to care for your child at home.
Your child’s continued safety is important to us. Hygiene is just as important in the CACU as it was in the CICU, and your care team will continue to take steps to decrease the risk of infection:
- Hand hygiene. This includes when to wash your hands or use alcohol-based gel or foam. Important: You must clean your hands when you enter the CACU and again when you enter your child’s room.
- Mouth care.
- Baths and linen changes.
- Room hygiene.
Your care team will provide education and help make sure you feel confident about safely caring for your child at home. This involves:
- Holding your child.
- Bathing.
- Feeding.
- Changing diapers or getting your child up to the bathroom.
- Giving medications.
- Sharing your questions and concerns.
Parents are encouraged to continue participating in family-centered rounds each day.
- Doctors, nurses and other team members will meet together outside of your child’s room.
- Everyone will talk as a team about your child’s progress and plan of care.
- You will be able to ask questions, provide input and share concerns.
- Your providers will come in the morning to round and will let you know about the plan of care for the day.
Before going home, parents are required to complete:
- After heart surgery discharge class: You will learn how to care for your child at home, care for their incision, and recognize any concerning symptoms, behaviors or signs of infection.
- CPR education: Parents will learn this lifesaving technique to respond in case of an emergency.
- Up to eight approved visitors can be added to the approved visitor list. Healthy children or siblings ages 2 and older are allowed as approved visitors.
- Up to four visitors may be at the bedside at any time.
- Two visitors may stay the night. Typically, visitors who stay the night must be at least 18 years of age.
Visitors with potentially contagious illnesses should not visit Children’s facilities.
After you receive education and hands-on practice caring for your child, you may participate in "rooming in." This is a time for you to complete your child’s care while you are still in the hospital. We want to help you feel comfortable and can provide care to keep your child safe at home as they continue to recover. Your child will still have an assigned nurse, and the care team will support you as needed.
Parents of newborns who have never been home must also take a car seat class.
- Bring your child’s car seat and base from home.
- Your child may need an angle tolerance test, or car seat test. The test checks your child’s breathing, heart rate and oxygen when they are in the car seat.
Patients, families and caregivers can access our library of printable and downloadable materials for guidance and education.
Browse ResourcesDownload a cardiac handbook for more information on how to care for your child at home after heart surgery.
After You Go Home
Your child will have follow-up visits with specialists, including their cardiologist. Your child will also continue seeing their pediatrician.
Your child should not get immunizations for at least 14 days after heart surgery.
This content is general information and is not specific medical advice. Always consult with a doctor or healthcare provider if you have any questions or concerns about the health of a child. In case of an urgent concern or emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department right away. Some physicians and affiliated healthcare professionals on the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta team are independent providers and are not our employees.
Contact Us 404-785-KIDS (5437)