Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the age of 18. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends people seek pediatric care through the age of 21, but some pediatric subspecialists continue to care for adults up to 25. Worldwide age limits of pediatrics have been trending upward year after year. A medical doctor who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician, or paediatrician. The word pediatrics and its cognates mean "healer of children", derived from the two Greek words: παῖς and ἰατρός. Pediatricians work in clinics, research centers, universities, general hospitals and children's hospitals, including those who practice pediatric subspecialties.
CHEO is a pediatric health-care and research centre located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. CHEO is also a tertiary trauma centre for children in Eastern Ontario, Nunavut, Northern Ontario and the Outaouais region of Quebec and one of only seven Level I trauma centres for children in Canada. It is affiliated with The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa, and is funded by the provincial Government of Ontario. CHEO first opened its doors on May 17, 1974, and is located at 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario.
Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn. It is a hospital-based specialty and is usually practised in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The principal patients of neonatologists are newborn infants who are ill or require special medical care due to prematurity, low birth weight, intrauterine growth restriction, congenital malformations, sepsis, pulmonary hypoplasia, or birth asphyxia.
A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), also known as an intensive care nursery (ICN), is an intensive care unit (ICU) specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. The NICU is divided into several areas, including a critical care area for babies who require close monitoring and intervention, an intermediate care area for infants who are stable but still require specialized care, and a step down unit where babies who are ready to leave the hospital can receive additional care before being discharged.
Nursing credentials and certifications are the various credentials and certifications that a person must have to practice nursing legally. Nurses' postnominal letters reflect their credentials—that is, their achievements in nursing education, licensure, certification, and fellowship. The letters usually appear in the following order:
Newborn transport is used to move premature and other sick infants from one hospital to another, such as a medical facility that has a neonatal intensive care unit and other services. Neonatal transport services such as NETS use mobile intensive care incubators fitted with mechanical ventilators, infusion pumps and physiological monitors capable of being used in a mobile environment. These transport systems seek to emulate the environment of a neonatal intensive care and permit uninterrupted care to occur in a referring hospital and then during the journey by road or air ambulance. Power and medical gas supplies are carried within the system as well as making use of external supplies; as available. Infant transport systems commonly weigh over 100 kg and present a challenge to vehicle operators in terms of weight, manual handling, crashworthiness and power consumption.
NETS is an acronym for newborn emergency transport service orsystem. Such services provide critical care transport for newborn babies requiring care not available in the hospital of birth. Some provide other services; such as outreach education, return transport and coordination of high-risk obstetric transfer. Others provide transport services in older age-groups.
Montreal Children's Hospital is a children's hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1904, it is affiliated with the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and McGill University, Faculty of Medicine.
Critical care nursing is the field of nursing with a focus on the utmost care of the critically ill or unstable patients following extensive injury, surgery or life-threatening diseases. Critical care nurses can be found working in a wide variety of environments and specialties, such as general intensive care units, medical intensive care units, surgical intensive care units, trauma intensive care units, coronary care units, cardiothoracic intensive care units, burns unit, paediatrics and some trauma center emergency departments. These specialists generally take care of critically ill patients who require mechanical ventilation by way of endotracheal intubation and/or titratable vasoactive intravenous medications.
Neonatal nursing is a sub-specialty of nursing care for newborn infants up to 28 days after birth. The term neonatal comes from neo, "new", and natal, "pertaining to birth or origin". Neonatal nursing requires a high degree of skill, dedication and emotional strength as they care for newborn infants with a range of problems. These problems vary between prematurity, birth defects, infection, cardiac malformations and surgical issues. Neonatal nurses are a vital part of the neonatal care team and are required to know basic newborn resuscitation, be able to control the newborn's temperature and know how to initiate cardiopulmonary and pulse oximetry monitoring. Most neonatal nurses care for infants from the time of birth until they are discharged from the hospital.
The University of Virginia (UVA) Health System is an academic health care center associated with the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The health system includes a medical center, school of medicine, school of nursing, and health sciences library. The health system provides inpatient and outpatient care and patient education and conducts medical research and education.
East Tennessee Children's Hospital is a private, independent, not-for-profit, 152-bed pediatric medical center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The hospital's primary service area includes 16 counties in East Tennessee, and its secondary service area includes counties in southwest Virginia, southeast Kentucky and western North Carolina.
A pediatric intensive care unit, usually abbreviated to PICU, is an area within a hospital specializing in the care of critically ill infants, children, teenagers, and young adults aged 0–21. A PICU is typically directed by one or more pediatric intensivists or PICU consultants and staffed by doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists who are specially trained and experienced in pediatric intensive care. The unit may also have nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physiotherapists, social workers, child life specialists, and clerks on staff, although this varies widely depending on geographic location. The ratio of professionals to patients is generally higher than in other areas of the hospital, reflecting the acuity of PICU patients and the risk of life-threatening complications. Complex technology and equipment is often in use, particularly mechanical ventilators and patient monitoring systems. Consequently, PICUs have a larger operating budget than many other departments within the hospital.
The Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (Children's) Egleston Hospital is a nationally ranked, freestanding, 330-bed, pediatric acute care children's hospital located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is affiliated with the Emory University School of Medicine and one of three hospitals in the Children's system. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens and young adults age 0–21 throughout the Atlanta region. Egleston hospital has been verified as a level I pediatric trauma center since 2019 by the Verification Review Committee (VRC), an ad-hoc committee of the Committee on Trauma (COT) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). It is the first and only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in Georgia. Its regional pediatric intensive-care unit and neonatal intensive care units serve the region. The hospital also has a rooftop helipad for critical pediatric transport.
Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, also known as Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care children's teaching hospital and entity of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The hospital is affiliated with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics.
Certified in Neonatal Pediatric Transport (C-NPT) is the designation in the USA for a paramedic, physician, respiratory therapist, neonatal nurse, nurse practitioner, nurse or physician assistant who has earned certification from the National Certification Corporation in neonatal and pediatric transport. This certificate of added qualification was rolled out in 2009. National Certification Corporation utilizes applied measurement professionals to administer its tests.
A pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) is a nurse practitioner who specializes in care for newborns, infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers, school-aged children, adolescents, and young adults. Nurse practitioners have an in-depth knowledge and experience in pediatric healthcare including well childcare, and prevention/management of common pediatric acute illnesses and chronic conditions. This care is provided to support optimal health of children within the context of their family, community, and environmental setting. In order to be a pediatric nurse practitioner one must be compassionate, resourceful, good at communicating and have good attention to detail.
A neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP) is an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) with at least 2 years experience as a bedside registered nurse in a Level III NICU, who is prepared to practice across the continuum, providing primary, acute, chronic, and critical care to neonates, infants, and toddlers through age 2. Primarily working in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) settings, NNPs select and perform clinically indicated advanced diagnostic and therapeutic invasive procedures. In the United States, a board certified neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP-BC) is an APRN who has acquired Graduate education at the master's or doctoral level and has a board certification in neonatology. The National Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (NANNP) is the national association that represents neonatal nurse practitioners in the United States. Certification is governed by the National Certification Corporation for Obstetrics, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing Specialties (NCC).
Children's Hospital at Erlanger is a 118-bed, tertiary care children's hospital located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The hospital serves as the pediatric center of excellence for Erlanger Health System, the tenth largest public health system in the United States. Children's Hospital at Erlanger treats infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0-21. It is located adjacent to Erlanger Baroness Hospital, just east of downtown Chattanooga.
Pediatric early warning signs (PEWS) are clinical manifestations that indicate rapid deterioration in pediatric patients, infancy to adolescence. A PEWS score or PEWS system refers to assessment tools that incorporate the clinical manifestations that have the greatest impact on patient outcome.
