Pediatric floor at age 19?

[bigd123]

I recently had surgery and when I came out of it they told me there was a possibility that I may be put on the pediatric floor. I thought this was interesting because I am 19 and I am 6'1'. They ended up putting me on telemetry because of my heart rate and I barely fit in the adult size bed. I understand that they can put you in pediatrics until 21. My question is, is there a bed that is larger then the adult size one?

[kathy313]

That's so funny, my son was hospitalized for a short time over the summer. He was 17, he's also 6'4" and about 240 pounds. He was on the peds floor, he was a giant compared to all the little ones there!

They do have extensions for the beds, also "big boy" beds (wider & longer) they cost more and usually used for a more long term patient.

[Keepstanding, ASN, RN]

oh my goodness.....you definitley do not fit the description of a ped's patient !

hope you are having a smooth recovery !

praiser :heartbeat

[kikif0910]

You are a typical pediatric patient that I would see in my hospital. I have had patients in their 40s. For example, if you have a congential heart defect, pediatric cardiologists are the ones most versed in your condition, so that's who would be following your care. I have patients in their 20s and 30s who come in with arrhythmias and have to have their pacemakers reset or have an ablation done....this is not uncommon. They put you there for a reason ...probably because of your age and your condition.

[RNnik07]

Same as the previous poster... I've had patients well into their 20's on our floor. I've seen it with these patients as they have a condition/illness that is considered a childhood illness and our doctors are much more familiar with it than those on another floor.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I've also seen adult patients on the peds floor when the hospital is at over 100% census because that's where the only open beds are. The storage closets had already been emptied and turned into patient rooms.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

I recently had surgery and when I came out of it they told me there was a possibility that I may be put on the pediatric floor. I thought this was interesting because I am 19 and I am 6'1'. They ended up putting me on telemetry because of my heart rate and I barely fit in the adult size bed. I understand that they can put you in pediatrics until 21. My question is, is there a bed that is larger then the adult size one?

Like prev stated -that's not uncommon. And in reality it's not much different than any other med/surg type floor.

As for the bed question: There are specialty beds for bariatrics, wounds, even extra long. Some brand beds are slightly shorter than others.

[April, RN, BSN, RN]

My hospital has bed extenders that add about another foot to the bed.

[pghfoxfan]

I worked in Peds back in the day and we used to have "young adults". Personally, if I were even in my young 20s I would have rather been placed on a floor with younger patients than geriatric patients. In our Peds unit, the teen or young adult usually had a room to their own. This was nice for family to spend more time. I cant ever remember putting a teen with a child.

[Nightingale11]

I'm 20 and if I were to end up in the hospital I'd want to be on Peds floor BUT I'm only 4'11 so I have the opposite problem, I look like a 12 yr old :)

[rachelgeorgina]

You'd never see this in Australia. There's a strict transition to adult services/hospitals at age 18.