CHKD's transitional care unit, located on the seventh floor, is an eight-bed unit that offers highly specialized care to children with severe lung diseases and intensive rehabilitative requirements.
What is Transitional Care?
Most of our patients stay with us for several months, so we strive to make our unit as home-like as possible and to provide age-appropriate activities that will optimize each child's emotional, intellectual and social development. The goal of our treatment is to help our patients make a successful transition to home-based care.
Most of the information you need to know about CHKD and its services and programs are covered elsewhere on this website. In this section, we'll try to answer any specific questions you have about this unit.
What Conditions do you Treat?
We care for children with a wide variety of conditions, but all of our patients have been to some degree dependent on ventilators. Some require 24-hour ventilation support and others are in the process of learning to breathe on their own. A variety of conditions -- including premature birth, traumatic brain injuries, chronic lung, gastrointestinal and neuromuscular diseases -- can necessitate the level of care we provide.
What Services do you Offer?
The TCU works with many other departments in the hospital to offer comprehensive treatment programs that strive to meet the unique medical, developmental and emotional needs of children who require long hospitalizations.
Medical treatments focus primarily on pulmonary care and ventilator support, but also incorporate other medical specialties as needed.
Special services that help our patients' achieve their optimal growth and development are a very important facet of a child's care in the TCU. These include physical, occupational and speech therapy, registered dieticians, child life therapists and school teachers.
A social worker is available to help families understand and cope with a child's diagnosis and access appropriate services in their community.
Does Your Staff have Special Training?
Our pulmonogists are board-certified in pediatric pulmonogy. The unit is staffed by registered nurses called patient care coordinators (PCCs). The PCC may be supported by licensed practical nurses (Clinician IIs) and nursing assistants (Clinician Is). In addition, there is a 24-hour coverage by respiratory therapists.
Can I Check on my Child When I Can't be at the Hospital?
You are always welcome to call the nursing station to find out how your child is doing. We may ask you to identify yourself in a special way (for instance, by giving us your Social Security number) to make sure we are giving information to the proper person.