
There are many people working together to help your child. Below you can see a list of people who may be involved in your child’s care, a typical daily schedule and some information about spaces you can use.
Everyone on your child’s team is here to help them feel better. If you’re not sure who to talk to, your bedside nurse is a great person to start with. But you can also ask anyone on your team—they’ll help guide you to the right person, even if they don’t have the answers themselves.
Who is part of the PICU team?
- Doctors
- Attending Physician (Intensivist): Specialist in child health who is responsible for your child’s health care plan.
- Consulting Doctors (Specialists): Doctors with specialized training. They share advice about a body system or illness. For example, cardiologists give advice on the heart or an oncologists give advice on cancer.
- Residents and Fellows: Qualified doctors who are training as specialists. They provide most of the day-to-day medical care. They work under the guidance of specialists.
- Medical Students: Students will sometimes be present. They will always be supervised by a qualified doctor.
- Nurses
- Registered Nurses: responsible for your child's nursing care.
Clinical Nurse Coordinators or Leads (CNCs or CNLs): Responsible for day-to-day work in the unit.
- Registered Nurses: responsible for your child's nursing care.
If you are concerned about your child's nursing care, please talk to the CNC or CNL
- Respiratory Therapists (RTs): Look after the respiratory system (lungs). If your child needs a breathing machine, RTs make sure it is working as well as possible.
- Care Aides: Supports parts of your child’s care like bathing and feeding. Care aides also ensure your child’s room has the supplies and equipment they need.
Allied Health in PICU
Everyone involved in your child's care is dedicated to supporting both of you. If you have preferences about the care team or therapists involved, please feel free to share them with your bedside nurse.
- Social Workers (SW): Help families with social or emotional impacts of illness, such as counselling and finding a place to stay. They may be able to connect you with financial supports, and resources in your community.
- Occupational Therapists (OTs): Plan activities to help children with development and returning to normal daily activities.
- Physiotherapists (PTs): Plan programs to help children when disease affects muscles, bones and joints. They help the children regain as much normal movement as possible.
- Pharmacists: Help to plan and manage your child's medications.
- Dieticians: Help you understand your child’s feeding needs. Dieticians plan a special diet for your child, if needed.
- Lactation Consultants: Are available to support breast/chest feeding at the hospital through inpatient and outpatient consults.
- Speech Pathologists and Audiologists: Support children when illness affects their swallowing, language skills, and/or hearing.
- Music Therapists: Brings music to your child’s bedside to support development. Music therapy depends on your child’s age and current state of recovery.
- Child Life Specialists: Help children support coping with hospital stays and procedures using play, procedural coping plans and therapeutic interventions. They can also help siblings and caregivers cope while a loved one is in the hospital.
More Supports
For your child:
- Therapy pets
- Hospital clowns
Supports for you:
- Indigenous Health team: If you self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Metis or Inuit), Elders, Navigators, and Knowledge Keepers can support you and your family. More information here.
- Psychologists: Help children and their families cope with, understand, and manage challenges that can come with hospital admissions, having a medical condition and/or a serious illness. They can provide support for coping with pain, worry and other areas of wellbeing that are being impacted.
- Spiritual Care Professionals: Offer spiritual and emotional support. They meet with people of all communities, faiths and traditions.
- Volunteers: Can spend time with your child playing games, making crafts, or doing anything that your child enjoys.
General PICU Schedule
7:00 am -7:30 am: Nursing shift change.
7:15 am -10:00 am: Medical-surgical rounds.
- The lead Intensivist for the week, residents, fellows and other team members will come to your child's room. You are welcome to participate. At rounds, the team will discuss your child's condition and treatment.
- Medical teaching also happens during rounds.
- You are invited to be part of rounds and participate in rounds to the level that you are comfortable with.
- Many parents choose to participate in rounds, while some prefer not to participate and to receive an update about their child’s care plan in the afternoon.
- Please see the link below for more information about how you can participate in Family Centred Rounds. What are Family Centred Rounds?
- At the end of rounds, the team decides on your child's Plan of Care.
10:00 am - 4: 00 pm: Procedures, treatments and tests.
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Medical hand-over rounds: The medical team from the day gives updates to the nighttime medical team.
7:00 pm -7:30 pm: Nursing shift change (similar to the morning).
10 pm onwards: Urgent procedures and tests, when needed.
Please note: the PICU is a busy place, and sometimes things don’t always happen right on schedule.
The PICU Lounge for Families
This space is for you and other families with children in the PICU.
The Lounge for Families has:
- Phone: Dial 9 to make an outside call
- Washroom
- Reclining couch that converts into a bed and additional seating
- Fridge
- Microwave
- Kitchen with sink and supplies: Please help yourself to coffee and tea
- TV
- Computer with Internet access
- A private room where parents can pump milk
Outdoor Spaces
- Parents and caregivers can go to the 5th-floor patio at BC Children’s. This is an outdoor area with gardens, benches, and a nice view. If you want to go there or have questions, just ask your nurse.
- There's also an outdoor area on the ground level next to the Starbucks that has gardens, benches and occasionally food trucks. Caregivers and siblings are welcome to use this space.
If you or your family need a separate, quiet, private space, we might be able to help with that. Please talk to your nurse or social worker.