Pediatric Advanced Needs Assessment and Care Team (PANDA)
The Pediatric Advanced Needs Assessment (PANDA) and Care Team serves children, adolescents, and young adults under the care of any inpatient service at Children’s National Medical Center.
The multidisciplinary team of medical professionals assists healthcare team members, families, children, and adolescents with advanced illnesses. The team’s goal is simple: to prevent, reduce or soothe the symptoms of patients in the advanced stages of illness.
The PANDA Care Team works in collaboration with the patient’s primary care team, the patient, and the parents to:
- Manage pain and discomfort.
- Promote healing and comfort.
- Facilitate communication among team members.
- Coordinate inpatient, outpatient, or home care.
- Investigate complementary and alternative medicine.
- Achieve optimal quality of life for the patient.
- Provide on-going education.
The Care Team is also dedicated to providing ongoing education for patients, families, members of the healthcare team, and the community regarding topics that are commonly faced by patients with advanced illnesses and their families, such as:
- Decision making
- Pain and symptom management
- Palliative care
- Hospice and home care
- Communication
- Family dynamics
- Sibling issues
- School interventions
- Spiritual concerns
Each member of the PANDA Care team is an integral part of the consultation process and the development of individualized care plans. The PANDA Care Team members, all of whom are experts in palliative care, include:
- Physicians
- Advanced practice nurses and registered nurses
- Anesthesia pain service representatives
- Augmentative communications specialists, Division of Hearing & Speech
- Child life specialists
- Ethics committee members
- Parent advocates
- Pastoral care representatives
- Psychologists
- Social workers
The PANDA Care Team is a founding partner in the District of Columbia Pediatric Palliative Care Collaborative (DCPPCC), a group of four local institutions committed to developing comprehensive pediatric palliative care services across care settings, from the hospital to the home. Other partners include Georgetown University, the Health Services for Children (HSC) Pediatric Center and Community Hospices.
Consulations
PANDA Care Team members are available by phone Monday through Friday during normal business hours. To initiate a consultation, call 202-476-4256.
An advanced practice nurse (APN) will coordinate the initial consult to obtain basic information regarding the patient. The APN will then review the patient’s chart to determine which members of the PANDA Care Team need to be involved in the consultation.
- Departments & Programs - Children's National Medical Center
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