Children’s National Heart Institute Inpatient team takes a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. While at Children’s, patients and families have access to a team of cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, critical care specialists, neonatologists, and nurse practitioners who provide comprehensive medical and surgical care. All members of the team, including nurses, social workers, nutritionists, pharmacists, and child life specialists, have experience caring for children with heart disease.
Heart and Kidney Unit with Dedicated Hospitalists
Hospitalist physicians work as an extension of the patient’s primary cardiologist, focusing on the medical care of patients who require hospitalization for treatment of a wide variety of cardiovascular medical or surgical conditions. At Children’s, Cardiology Hospitalist physicians are cardiologists with extensive training and experience in providing expert care for infants and children with cardiac health problems in consultation with the patient’s primary cardiologist, primary care physician and other subspecialists. Cardiology Hospitalist physicians also work in conjunction with the Adult Congenital Heart Team to provide coordinated care to the growing number of patients over the age of 18 who are admitted to Children’s for cardiac care.
Family-Centered Care
Children’s is committed to taking care of the entire family because when a child gets sick, it affects the whole family. Social workers and family services teams also are available to assist families during their time at Children’s. Our Cardiac Intensive Care Unit lets siblings visit seven days a week, and a parent advisory council meets monthly to ensure that the needs of our families are met. Parents are encouraged to participate in discussions about their child’s treatment plan, and are invited to participate in daily team rounds while on the cardiology inpatient unit.
Resources
An extensive support team is available, including social workers, counselors and concierge support staff to assist families with all of their needs. View all Inpatient Cardiology Resources
