Pediatric Care Team Roles

Our Pediatric Teams Learn more about our pediatric teams more

Attending physicians are full-time faculty members, actively involved in patient care, teaching, and ongoing research. Other physician staff members include fellows in pediatric hematology oncology and residents who work in the inpatient unit. Physician staff members will determine your child's care at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and will frequently consult with each other, or with other attendings throughout the hospital, regarding the best treatment modalities for your child.

Radiation Oncologists are cancer doctors who determine if radiation therapy is indicated as part of the treatment for individual patients. These specialists meet with families to provide recommendations and to discuss all aspects of the therapy. The Radiation Oncologists, with the help of medical physicists, use sophisticated computer programs to design individualized radiation treatment to target tumors and minimize exposure to surrounding healthy tissues or organs. A patient receiving radiation therapy will meet with the Radiation Oncologist regularly during therapy and afterward for follow-up.

	Nurse Practitioner Ursula McPeak Tomlinson examines a patient.

Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with an advanced academic and clinical education. They combine the strengths of nursing with other clinical skills and collaborate closely with physicians to manage your child's treatment. Nurse practitioners who work in the inpatient unit (M9) and Pediatric Observation Unit (POU) also work closely with attendings, fellows, and residents in the management and treatment of your child.

Registered Nurses

Registered nurses provide essential, critical bedside care. They assess patients and interact with them in an age-appropriate way. Registered nurses are skilled in alleviating the anxiety that a child or family member may experience, and will communicate frequently with nurse practitioners and attendings with regard to any changes in a child's condition during the course of treatment. They also work closely with the psychosocial support team to address various aspects of treatment, healing, and recovery.

An important part of our nursing mission at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is primary nursing care. This approach ensures that each patient is assisted by the same nurse for the length of the patient's stay or for each visit to the Center. Through primary nursing, nurses are able to establish a unique relationship with patients and can detect subtle changes in patients' responses to treatment that may occur. Some of our nurse practitioners rotate between the inpatient unit and the Pediatric Day Hospital, further enhancing the continuity of care.

Nursing Assistants

Nursing assistants support the registered nurses with basic bedside care. They also assist with general assessments and facilitate patient flow.

Support Programs and Services Our programs and services help children cope with cancer treatment more

A social worker from the Psychosocial Support Team at Memorial Sloan-Kettering is assigned to each pediatric core team and is on hand to assist you and your child in practical and supportive ways as you deal with a cancer diagnosis and go through the treatment process. Our social workers provide counseling, offer information and assistance throughout the course of treatment, and can guide and direct you to resources you may need. Social workers are highly skilled at helping patients and family members with the psychological and social aspects of a cancer diagnosis.

You may contact a social worker prior to your first visit to Memorial Sloan-Kettering if you have questions, such as how to secure accommodations nearby, and to learn about assistance programs for which you may be eligible.

The Child Life Specialists are trained to make a child's hospital experience as smooth as possible. They offer multifaceted, age-appropriate program activities in the Recreation Center and at bedside. These activities may help your child open up about his or her feelings. The activities are also designed to offer children a safe outlet for alleviating anxiety and provide fun ways to spend a day in the hospital. Child life staff can assist children as they learn to adapt and cope, introduce therapeutic medical play sessions, and design social activities to normalize the difficult experiences your child is undergoing.

	New York City Board of Education teacher with a patient

Memorial Sloan-Kettering provides a teaching program, staffed by teachers who are all certified by the New York City Board of Education. This program provides elementary, middle school, and high school schooling for students who are at Memorial Sloan-Kettering for prolonged periods of time, whether hospitalized or in treatment in the Pediatric Day Hospital. Patients may take New York State standardized tests (including NYS Regents Examinations), receive guidance and assistance with college applications, and meet graduation requirements.

Because religion is an important source of comfort and strength for many of our patients, Memorial Sloan-Kettering provides the services of Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, and Muslim chaplains. Visits from clergy of other religions can also be arranged. A nondenominational chapel is located near the main lobby on the first floor of Memorial Hospital. It is open at all times for meditation and prayer. Religious services are held each week and on all holy days.

	A Pediatric Day Hospital session assistant checks in a patient.

Session Assistants are an important part of the administrative support team assisting attendings and nurse practitioners in the Pediatric Day Hospital. They schedule appointments, maintain up-to-date medical records, and track each patient's daily progress, including any scans, tests, and treatment administered throughout the day. Session Assistants are also part of the check-in process and monitor patient flow throughout the Pediatric Day Hospital.

Physician Office Assistants

Physician Office Assistants provide administrative support to attending staff. Situated in the physicians' offices, the physician office assistant is often the person you speak with when you submit information or to address questions you have for the physician.