
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. Photo Source: Victoria Hospitals Foundation
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. And 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 may sometimes be present. They will always be supervised by a qualified doctor.
- Nurses
- Registered Nurses: responsible for your child's care.
- Clinical Resource Nurse (CRN): Responsible for day-to-day work in the unit.
If you are concerned about your child's nursing care, please talk to the CRN
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 can also 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Child Life Specialists: Help children to cope with hospital stays and procedures using play and distraction. They can also help siblings and caregivers cope while a loved one is in the hospital.
- Dieticians: Help you understand your child’s feeding needs. Dieticians plan a special diet for your child, if needed.
- Pharmacists: Help to plan and manage your child's medications.
More Supports
- Supports for your child
- Volunteers: Can spend time with your child playing games, making crafts, or doing anything that your child enjoys.
- Supports for you:
- Indigenous Liaison Nurse: If you self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Metis or Inuit), Elders, Navigators, and Knowledge Keepers can support you and your family. Our Indigenous Liaison Nurse can help connect you with this team.
- Spiritual Care Professionals: Offer spiritual and emotional support. They meet with people of all communities, faiths and traditions.
General PICU Schedule
7:00 am -7:30 am: Nursing shift change.
09:15 am -11:00 am: Medical-surgical rounds (end time variable).
- 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.
- At the end of rounds, the team decides on your child's Plan of Care.
11: 00 am - 5:45 pm: Procedures, treatments and tests.
5:45 pm - 6: 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 Family Support Room
Location: 406 A, near the entry to the unit of 4C.
- This is a shared space for teaching patients and families about what is happening to their loved ones. It is also used for parent/caregiver use in the evenings.
- Unless being used for teaching, this room is primarily meant to be a quiet space for parents and caregivers, so we ask that children are not routinely present in this area.
- The Family support room has:
- A telephone
- TV
- A fridge, and microwave
- A small food preparation area
- We ask that you label every food item you wish to store in the fridge with your name and date. Please remember to remove your food items upon discharge and clean up after yourselves after each use.
PICU Parent Room
Location: Outside the doors of the PICU.