Care
Nursing Spotlight | Nurse Ellen Rice discusses the rewards of working in the inpatient unit | |
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Two medical teams provide daily care on the inpatient unit -- an oncology team and a transplant team. Attending physicians rotate onto the service teams for periods of three weeks to one month. Each team also includes a fellow, resident house officers, a pediatric nurse practitioner, and a unit nurse clinician.
The POU or The Lauren Rosenberg Pediatric Observation Unit is a distinct 3-bedded unit providing step-up/step-down care for those patients requiring close observation, monitoring, or intensive care support. Technology also permits the staff on this unit to monitor as many as five inpatients who are not in the POU but require some special attention. The POU is staffed with a team of pediatric critical care intensivists, fellows, nurse practitioners, and specially trained nurses.
Support
The Inpatient Unit features The Laura Rosenberg Family Center, open 24 hours and comprised of two separate sections.
The first is a recreation area stocked with books, games, computers, and space for activities. Staffed by child life specialists and a team of volunteers, play therapy and activities are organized for patients, emphasizing the individualized needs of each patient. Group meetings and activities are also held routinely and involve many members of the healthcare team and other special members of the pediatric family, including Clown Care and Musicians on Call.
The second area in the Family Center is a resting spot, providing a place for quiet contemplation. Also included in the Center is a family kitchen, integrated with our food service program, which can accommodate many special food needs such as Kosher meals. This provides parents the ability to prepare food on-site and an area to eat outside the patient rooms. In addition to the kitchen, a patient laundry room allows parents to wash and dry their children's clothes on site.
Amenities
Inpatient rooms also feature multi-media entertainment and computer systems -- which include flat-screen TVs with videotape and DVD players, and computers with internet access -- accessible at the patient's bedside. This technology allows patients to maintain contact with family, friends, and their local schools. The computer component of the system facilitates bedside teaching, along with exercises that encourage and maintain manual and mental dexterity.
