Miami Children's Hospital
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Miami Children's Hospital |
Miami Children's Hospital (MCH), South Florida's only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, is an internationally recognized pediatric care facility serving children from Florida, the United States, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. This 268-bed facility -- the largest freestanding pediatric teaching hospital in the southeastern United States -- has served the region for more than 55 years. With a history of innovation and leadership, Miami Children's Hospital has become South Florida's preferred referral center for critically ill children and neonates.
Miami Children's is home to:
- Florida's only freestanding pediatric trauma center.
- The Congenital Heart Institute is the first pediatric cardiac intensive care unit in the southeastern United States. The Congenital Heart Institute's consistent 98 percent survival rate -- among the best in the world -- attracts children and their families from all over the globe.
- The Miami Children's Brain Institute -- a national leader in the care and treatment for children with brain anomalies.
- The Cancer Center treats more children with hematology/oncology diagnoses than any other facility in South Florida.
A Mission to Provide Family-Centered Care
The commitment of Miami Children's Hospital to family-centered care is reflected in its mission statement:
To provide excellent family-centered healthcare to children in an academic environment that meets or exceeds the expectations of those we serve and educate. To collaborate with others in our community to improve the health status of children.
This commitment is embraced at every level of the organization. Families are included in all aspects of care decision-making and receive care in an environment that is supportive of the individual needs of each child and family member. MCH is devoted to advancing family-centered care by welcoming families 24 hours a day to ensure consistent dialogue between family and staff.
Voices for Children and Families
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Miami Children's Family Advisory Council |
Miami Children's has established a Family Advisory Council (FAC) and a Teen Council. The Family Advisory Council mission is to create a partnership between families and hospital staff to ensure sensitive, comprehensive, compassionate, and family inclusive services. The FAC accomplishes this by promoting staff and family awareness of specific issues and making recommendations to the hospital.
As a result of FAC members' attendance at the Institute for Family-Centered Care's "Hospitals Moving Forward with Patient- and Family-Centered Care" seminar held in Miami in April 2006, the hospital formed the Family-Centered Care Steering Council. Parents, nurses, physicians, representatives of Patient Family Services, Education, and other support services have coalesced to keep MCH "moving forward."
The Teen Council, made up of children currently or previously hospitalized at MCH and their siblings, is a channel for patients and their families to voice their opinions and to enhance the hospital experience for teens.
The FAC and Teen Council have worked collaboratively by:
- Supporting development of community resource guides for all families coming to MCH;
- Reviewing architect's plans and providing input into hospital redesign;
- Actively participating in the redesign of the Family Resource Center;
- Developing the Guide to Patient/Family Services;
- Participating in the Customer Service Excellence Program;
- Developing and implementing a Parent Mentor System;
- Developing and distributing the "Ask the Doctor" pad; and
- Participating in Miami Children's Hospital policy review.
A Family Inclusive Place
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Waiting Room in Hospital |
"It looks like a magical world." That's what many children say of Miami Children's newly redesigned interior and exterior. Playrooms are incorporated into most units. A large central indoor/covered outdoor playroom is equipped with stimulating play equipment for children of all ages. This is the site where celebrity visits, magic shows, theme parties, and other special events are held to enhance the stay of the children. Patient rooms incorporate chairs that convert to beds so that parents can stay with their child around-the-clock.
Training to Enhance Care
Miami Children's Hospital is a Training Top 100 facility, having been ranked among the top organizations in the country for staff training and effectiveness. For more information, see http://mch.com/news/pressreleases_view.asp?ID=241
New patient care staff members, including nurses and residents, are required to participate in family-centered care training. Follow-up training is integrated, after the first six months on the job, to address questions and offer support.
Each hospital unit has created customized customer service programs. Role-playing scenarios help staff develop skills and awareness to meet family needs. Members of the Family Advisory Council have served as "secret shoppers" and reward positive, family-friendly behaviors.
A family-centered care focus is built into the hospital's innovative Simulation Laboratory. The Sim Lab, equipped with high-tech child- and infant-size mannequins that mirror the medical responses of young patients, is used to train staff and families in routine care, emergency scenarios, and new medical techniques.
Send in the Clowns
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Big Apple Circus Clown CareSM Clown Doctor |
Since May 2000, the Big Apple Circus Clown CareSM (BAC-CC) program has brought laughter and joy to the bedsides of acutely and chronically ill children at Miami Children's Hospital. "Clown Doctors" are specially selected professional performers who are trained to work in the sensitive hospital environment. They make one-on-one bedside visits throughout the hospital, including the intensive care unit, bone marrow transplant center, emergency room, in-patient wards, physical therapy unit, and outpatient center. Miami Children's five clown doctors use parody to help take the mystery out of, and simplify, complicated medical procedures by performing their own "highly technical" clown medicine routines, including red-nose transplants, kitty "cat" scans, chocolate milk transfusions, and plate spinning platelet tests.
Radio Lollipop®
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Radio Lollipop® |
In August of 1996, Miami Children's became the first hospital in the United States to host Radio Lollipop, an interactive radio station program developed in England. At Radio Lollipop, a fully equipped in-house radio station, volunteers engage patients in child-focused, mentally stimulating recreational activities linked to radio programs. The patients themselves present many programs! Other volunteers are with children at their bedside playing games, reading books, and otherwise encouraging them to participate in the radio broadcasts and win prizes.
Child Life Services
Child Life Specialists are assigned to each hospital floor and the Emergency Department. They offer stress-reducing and coping techniques and convey age-appropriate knowledge to families and children. Child Life Specialists work to maintain an environment within the hospital where children can be children, creating opportunities for play and interaction with other youngsters when appropriate.
Bringing Comfort and Companionship
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Hospitality Cart |
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Volunteer "Bedside Buddies" Play with Children |
Miami Children's has developed numerous programs to enhance the hospital environment for families and patients alike. To help relieve stress, Miami Children's Comfort Crew offers massages to parents. Twice daily, a Hospitality Cart makes rounds offering complimentary fruit, pastries, and hot and cold beverages. Art Cart volunteers visit waiting areas for outpatients, keeping children busy and engaged in art projects and face painting. Volunteer Bedside Buddies visit hospital rooms with games, activities, and reading to help pass time for children whose parents are not able to be with them or who want a break from the bedside. In addition, Pet Therapy dogs visit hospital rooms on a regular basis.
Info Alley - A Family Resource Center
Info Alley, created in 1999, is staffed by librarians from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. This is a quiet place for parents and families to learn about their children's health, normal growth and development, healthy lifestyles, and diseases. The resource center is equipped with books and magazines, videotapes, and other audiovisual materials. Internet access to websites with up-to-date information on acute and chronic pediatric/adolescent illnesses, health promotion, and disease prevention issues is available to families at no cost.
Support Groups, Mentors, and Camps
Miami Children's offers a dozen support groups for families of children with a variety of illnesses. The hospital has launched a Mentoring Program that matches families with parents of children with similar medical issues. The mentor parents provide support for those coping with a new diagnosis.
In addition, the hospital sponsors medically supervised summer camps for children with a variety of special needs, including youngsters with diabetes, rheumatologic conditions, neurological deficits, as well as those requiring ventilator assistance.
Recognition for Miami Children's Hospital and Emergency Department
Miami Children's consistently receives high rankings for customer service from a variety of independent surveys:
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Lobby at the Miami Children's Hospital |
- Miami Children's is a multi-year winner of the regional Consumer Opinion Award, for achieving the highest level of patient satisfaction among hospitals in Miami Dade County.
- Readers of South Florida Parenting Magazine have repeatedly selected Miami Children's as the best hospital and the best provider of emergency care for children in Miami-Dade County.
- In 2005, the hospital's Emergency Department received top national honors for the highest patient and family satisfaction scores among pediatric Emergency Departments nationwide.
- In 2005, South Florida Parenting Magazine awarded top ranking to the Miami Children's Dan Marino Center for best services for special needs families in Broward County, while Miami Children's Hospital garnered the same honor for Miami-Dade County.
- Miami Children's Hospital received the nursing profession's highest national honor, when designated as a Magnet facility by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Miami Children's is one of only a few pediatric hospitals in the nation to receive this designation.