Our Environment

Nurses at Children’s work within a professional practice model centered around Patient-Family Centered Care and in alignment with the CNMC strategic vision of Care Advocacy, Research, and Education. The CNMC nurse integrates nursing theory, influences practice through Shared Nursing Leadership, enhances nursing through evidence-based practice and research, and collaborates with the healthcare team.

Shared Nursing Leadership councils include the Practice Council, defining clinical standards utilizing evidence-based practice; Resource Council, establishing priorities for human and fiscal resources; Innovation Council, producing cutting edge strategies through creativity and critical thinking; Professional Development Council, defining professional standards, promoting autonomy in practice and encouraging career development; Clinical Improvement and Research Council, applying performance improvement methodologies to link nursing practice to clinical outcomes, facilitating nursing research opportunities and creating a culture of nursing excellence through evidence-based practice; and the Collaborative Forum, coordinating activities of the councils.

Patient-Family Centered Care
Patient-Family Centered Care is a collaborative partnership between patients, families, and the healthcare team that places priority on the strengths and needs of the patient and family to optimize health and well being. The professional nurse along with the health care team develops a partnership with the patient and family and incorporates elements of family centeredness in every aspect of care delivery.

What Family-Centered Care means:

• Our team treats patients and families with dignity and respect.
• We share information to ensure each family is involved in a child’s medical care and decisions.
• We encourage parents to participate in their child’s care and value parent input during their child’s visit to Children’s.

Nursing Theory
The nursing theory that guides professional nursing practice at Children’s is Neuman’s Systems Model. Neuman’s Model promotes holistic nursing care of the patient and family.  Application of the theory enables the Children’s nurse to provide individualized patient-family centered care through collaboration with the patient, family and the health care team. 

Diversity
Like the patients and families they treat, nurses at Children’s are highly diverse in culture, language and religion. The Nursing Education and Staff Development Department and Professional Development Council ensure nurses receive diversity awareness training. With this awareness comes more sensitivity, thereby enabling Children’s nurses to better relate to patients, families, and other members of the care team.

Collaboration
Nurses at Children’s partner with the physicians to provide excellent and expert care. Together they work as a team that is based on mutual respect for one another’s clinical expertise. This collaborative relationship makes it possible for both groups of professionals to provide state-of-the-art care and always put the needs of children first.