Pediatric Intensive Care

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) offers 24/7 coverage by pediatric intensivists, board certified in Pediatric Critical Care and many also with subspecialties in Pediatric Anesthesiology. Dedication to interdisciplinary care includes consultations provided by Children’s medical and surgical specialists. The unit has 34-beds, currently expanding to 42, and over 130 staff including 90 specialty-trained PICU nurses, respiratory therapists, and other clinical specialists. Twelve of the ICU rooms are equipped to convert to surgical suites if an emergent event presents itself.

The team cares for more than 1,000 children and their families each year. The unit is one of the largest PICU in the country based on bed capacity, but it’s another ranking that matters most. In the field of intensive care, severity adjusted mortality rate is a key baseline benchmark, and in this arena Children’s PICU is ranked in the best 10% in the country.

The mortality rates are collated from a validated data set which consistently ranks Children’s in the top 1-2 PICU’s out of 33 benchmarked units for the past decade. Great teamwork between the PICU staff, transport team (both ground and air), and a board certified pediatric intensivist group, on duty around-the-clock, contribute not only to the PICU’s great outcome data but also to the Unit’s high patient satisfaction scores. The intensivists’ presence means that attending physicians are always in the Unit, and residents are never left without the support of an experienced specialist.

Achieving this level of success is a result of constant efforts to improve quality and performance. Children’s PICU is currently engaged in a number of projects toward that end. The PICU has initiated an electronic insulin protocol research study for non-diabetic patients in which well established protocols are applied and then adjusted based on a prescribed dataset for the individual patient. To date this ongoing study has proved to be simple to implement and outcome positive. Additionally, the PICU has recently joined a collaborative within NACHRI (National Association of Children’s Health and Related Institutions) to reduce catheter associated blood stream infections. This research project is part of a national collaborative which has completed Phase I with a significant reduction of blood stream infections and is now embarking on Phase II which will add additional study and refinement to both insertion and care of central lines.

Services Offered & Conditions Treated

• Congenital anomalies   
• Respiratory system  
• Injury and poisoning  
• Nervous system     
• Circulatory system   
• Perinatal conditions   
• Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic conditions
• Infectious and parasitic diseases
• Digestive system    
• Neoplasms    
• Blood and blood-forming organs 
• Musculoskeletal system  
• Genitourinary system   
• Residual codes    
• Skin and subcutaneous tissue  
• Ill-defined conditions  
• Mental disorders