In Addition, Children's Hospital provides . . .

Medical/Surgical Services:

The Scott M. Niswonger Emergency Department is staffed with licensed physicians and nursing personnel to provide treatment for all types of emergencies 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The department provides evaluation and treatment for patients up to 21 years of age with varying levels of illness and injury, from minor to life threatening. Each patient is triaged to determine the severity of the illness or injury. They are treated in the Emergency Department and either admitted to the hospital or discharged home with follow-up instructions.

The hospital's Goody's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) provides sophisticated, 24-hour-a-day treatment for critically ill and injured children. The PICU is staffed with doctors and nurses specifically trained and experienced in the care of critically ill children. Patients in the PICU receive a high level of monitoring and/or treatment until they are well enough to be transferred to a regular patient room or discharged home.

In the Haslam Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), tiny and fragile infants born prematurely or facing life-threatening illnesses receive treatment from a team of board-certified neonatologists, with valuable assistance from specially trained nurses, respiratory therapists, lactation consultants and other medical professionals. The NICU treats more than 600 newborns each year, and 97 percent of the babies go home.

As a regional referral center for East Tennessee, Children's Hospital offers neonatal and pediatric transport from outlying hospitals in LIFELINE, a mobile intensive care unit specially designed to maintain the same quality of care during transport as patients receive in the hospital's critical care units. Lifeline carries almost 1,000 supplies to administer care to patients, from the tiniest premature infant to an adult-size pediatric patient, during transport to the hospital. In addition to the special equipment, the Lifeline medical team may include a neonatologist, neonatal nurse practitioner, pediatric/neonatal RN, respiratory therapist and an EMT, depending on the condition of the patient. The hospital's two Lifeline vehicles travel tens of thousands of miles each year to dozens of different hospitals in Tennessee and surrounding states, and transport hundreds of pediatric patients to Children's Hospital.

Children's Hospital meets a wide range of pediatric surgical needs, from common outpatient procedures such as tonsillectomies to more complicated procedures, such as reconstructive surgery or neurosurgery. Five departments comprise Children's Hospital's Surgical Services: Outpatient Surgery, Surgery, Post-Anesthesia(the operating rooms) Care Unit ("wake up" or recovery room), Inpatient Surgery and Anesthesia. These departments work together to make sure each child's surgery and recovery is as quick and painless as possible. The doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists and other surgical staff are trained in pediatric medicine. The Outpatient Surgery unit, located on the Fourth Floor of Children's Hospital, is open from 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Any child whose surgery requires an overnight stay will be on the fourth floors Inpatient Surgery Unit. Each Monday and Thursday night, the Child Life department offers a pre-admission tour for children ages 3-11 to visit the hospital and learn about surgery in terms they can understand.

At any given time and for various reasons, a child may need to be admitted to Children's Hospital as an inpatient. The inpatient medical units are located on the Second and Third floors of the hospital. Doctors and nurses continuously monitor and treat inpatients according to their individual needs. Along with providing comprehensive medical and nursing care, Children's is dedicated to making a child's stay in the hospital as comfortable as possible. Each room has a TV/DVD player with access to movie channels,and play rooms are located on each floor. Other services such as Child Life, Nutrition, Pastoral Care and Social Work provide for the physical and emotional needs of the child.

The Respiratory Care Department at Children's Hospital is staffed with licensed and accredited respiratory therapists whose roles include treating patients with lung and/or heart diseases such as asthma, pneumonia, premature lungs and cystic fibrosis. Treatments provided by respiratory care practitioners include aerosol medications, delivery of oxygen and other medical gases, ventilator management and many other procedures. Respiratory care practitioners help patients throughout the hospital, from the emergency department to the Haslam Family NICU. They are also members of the pediatric transport team that helps bring sick and injured children to the hospital for specialized care. Education is also a key role of respiratory care practitioners; they teach patients and their families how to care for certain conditions at home.

Patients in a variety of hospital departments may benefit from sedation during some painful tests and procedures. In addition, young children may need sedation to remain still during long tests, such as MRIs. To meet these needs, the hospital offers PASS on Pain, provided by Pediatric Analgesia and Sedation Specialists (PASS). While the hospital cannot eliminate pain for some children, it is our goal to keep painful or uncomfortable situations to a minimum. PASS on Pain is a dedicated service that utilizes the most current sedation techniques to help children undergoing lengthy or painful procedures at Children’s Hospital. A multispecialty team sees each child, including a pediatric sedation physician and pediatric nurses who are specifically prepared to work with children’s sedation.

Diagnostic Services:

The Clinical Lab is responsible for all diagnostic testing, which includes the following areas: hematology, chemistry, microbiology, immunology, serology and blood bank.

Neurology Lab/Sleep Lab -The Neurology Lab offers a variety of diagnostic tests for patients dealing with seizures, hearing problems, sleep disorders and other conditions involving the brain. The most common tests offered in the Neurology Laboratory are the electroencephalogram (EEG) for children having seizures and other neurological problems, and the brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) hearing test, offered most often to infants who fail newborn hearing screenings and toddlers who are speech delayed. In addition, the Neuro Lab includes a Sleep Lab, where children who are having problems with sleep can have a sleep study. The sleep studies take place overnight, during the child's regular sleep cycle, to find the cause of such problems as sleep terrors and sleepwalking.

The Pulmonary Function Lab, a vital part of the Respiratory Care Department, performs tests to diagnose lung and heart diseases. The department is staffed by specially trained respiratory care practitioners. Services provided include spirometry testing, metabolic studies, cardiac stress testing, lung volumes and the cystic fibrosis clinic.

The Radiology Department serves as an "imaging" center for children. These images include x-ray, ultrasound, CT scan, nuclear medicine, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), echocardiogram and fluoroscopy.

Outpatient Services:

Children's Hospital Home Health Care, which is a hospital-based home health agency, supports the philosophy, mission and policies of East Tennessee Children's Hospital and is dedicated to meeting the needs of children. Home Health provides follow-up supportive care to patients newborn to 21 years of age who do not require hospitalization or constant skilled supervision. Home Health is licensed to provide services in 16 East Tennessee counties. All patients are accepted on the basis of physician referral, the ability of Home Health to meet the patient's specific needs, and when the physician, child's family and the Home Health staff agree that in-home care would be an appropriate and effective means of treatment. Available services include registered nursing, respiratory therapy, home infusion, nutritional support, home medical equipment, supplies, physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy.

The Children's Hospital Rehabilitation Center was established in 1947 by a group of parents whose children had cerebral palsy, and it has been a Children's Hospital department since 1995. The center provides rehab evaluation and treatment services to inpatients at Children's Hospital and the center, as well as home health rehab through Children's Hospital Home Health Care. Patients range from those with mild developmental delays to multiple handicapping conditions. All services are designed to help children reach their greatest independent function and developmental potential. In addition to outpatient physical and occupational therapy and speech pathology at the center, outpatient services also include the Children's Corner medical day treatment program, nutrition, psychology, summer day camp, transportation, parent training and outpatient clinics at Children's Hospital. The center also provides high-risk follow-up and seating clinics. The Children's Hospital Rehabilitation center is a United Way agency.

Children's Hospital also provides comprehensive consultation, evaluation, diagnostic services and treatment for pediatric patients with acute, chronic and/or complex conditions through the James S. Bush Outpatient Care Center. Several clinics for specific conditions are offered including craniofacial, cystic fibrosis, dermatology, diabetes, gynecology, hematology/oncology, high risk, infectious diseases, metabolic diseases, multispeciality, rheumatology, special attention and spasticity. The clinic is open and appointments are scheduled Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A clinic visit may include treatment and consultation with physicians, nurses and staff from Nutrition, Social Work, Child Life, Rehabilitation or Respiratory Care.

Additional Services:

The Social Work Department at Children's Hospital helps patients and their families deal with emotional stress caused by illness, injury or the hospitalization itself. Social Work services include information and referral; short-term supportive counseling for patients and parents; crisis intervention assistance; discharge planning; financial assistance; information on support and advocacy groups; and assistance with concrete needs, including Ronald McDonald House referrals. The department also coordinates translation of much of the hospital's printed material into Spanish to give the Hispanic population communication access when medical services are provided. Social Work also provides several interpretation services for the hospital. Optimal Phone Interpreters is a telephone service that provides interpreters in more than 204 languages and dialects. Interpreters can be arranged for face-to-face interactions between Spanish-speaking patients and parents and the physician and/or other hospital staff member. Sign language interpreters are also available for hearing impaired patients and families.

Hospitalization, medical procedures, illness and pain are often fearful times for people of all ages. The Child Life Department at Children's Hospital is responsible for helping children cope with their hospitalization through education, medical play and activities. The Child Life staff assesses the child's fears and needs, explain procedures in a language children can understand and use distractions to make procedures, such as the placement of an IV line, less intimidating. The Child Life staff members hold degrees in education, child development or therapeutic recreation. They have expertise in dealing with a child's concerns and reactions to the hospital and his or her illness. Child Life staff and volunteers are assigned to various areas of the hospital, including the Second and Third Floor inpatient medical units, the Goody's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the Outpatient Clinics and the Scott M. Niswonger Emergency Department. They are available almost any time during the day, with staff in as early as 8:30 a.m. and as late as 11 p.m. In addition to its work within the hospital, the Child Life Department also coordinates several activities for children in the community.

Pastoral Care - Chaplains are available 24 hours a day to provide spiritual and emotional support to patients, families and staff at Children's Hospital. Chaplains also provide consultation concerning ethical issues related to patient care. Office hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, but a chaplain is on-call at all other times.

Food and Nutrition Services - Children's Hospital's Cafeteria is open daily. Breakfast hours are 7 - 10:30 a.m., lunch is served from 11:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and dinner is served from 5:30 - 7 p.m. Vending machines on the ground floor near the dining room and in the Scott M. Niswonger Emergency Department waiting area provide sandwiches, snacks and beverages 24 hours a day. For patients with no dietary restrictions, Food and Nutrition Services offers a selective menu of in-room meals. Also, registered dietitians provide clinical nutrition services, and medical nutrition therapy is available to inpatients and outpatients who attend specialty clinics or who have individual appointments. These services include nutrition assessment, feeding recommendations, intake evaluation and nutrition counseling.

Children's Hospital's Healthy Kids program is a community education initiative of the Community Relations Department. The program serves as an education resource for parents, grandparents and other caretakers by offering classes, literature, a quarterly newsletter and other opportunities for learning how to improve the health and well-being of children.

Children's Hospital is the lead organization for an important area coalition: Safe Kids of the Greater Knox Area. The mission of the local Safe Kids coalition is to reduce unintentional injuries in children up to age 14 in the East Tennessee region by promoting awareness and implementing prevention initiatives. The local Safe Kids is part of Safe Kids Worldwide, a network of coalitions whose primary purpose is to prevent unintentional injuries in children by providing children and adults caring for them with information about how to stay safe.

HOPP is Hematology/Oncology Patients and Parents, an official support group of Children's Hospital that provides support for families dealing with a child with cancer.

Description of Pediatric Subspecialties

• Adolescent Gynecology: health care for teen girls.
• Adolescent Medicine: primary health care for teens and young adults.
• Neonatology: the care of newborns who are either premature or are born with medical conditions that require intensive care.
• Pediatrics: Primary healthcare for the infant, newborn child and the early adolescent.
• Pediatric Allergy & Immunology: the care of children with allergies and disorders of the immune system.
• Pediatric Anesthesiology: the administration of drugs to put a patient to "sleep" for surgery.
• Pediatric Cardiology: the care of children with heart problems.
• Pediatric Critical Care: treatment of seriously ill or injured children in an intensive care unit.
• Pediatric Dentistry/Pedodontics: dentistry and dental surgery.
• Pediatric Emergency Medicine: the treatment of sick or injured children in an emergency department setting.
• Pediatric Endocrinology: treatment of growth and development problems, illnesses and endocrine disorders, including diabetes.
• Pediatric Gastroenterology: treatment of disorders of the digestive system.
• Pediatric Hematology/Oncology: the care of children with blood disorders and cancers.
• Pediatric Infectious Diseases: treatment of infections and infectious illnesses.
• Pediatric Nephrology: medical treatment of kidney problems.
• Pediatric Neurology: the care of children with disorders of the nervous system.
• Pediatric Neurosurgery: surgical treatment of problems of the brain and spinal cord.
• Pediatric Ophthalmology: care of the eyes and eye surgery.
• Pediatric Orthopedics: care of the muscular/skeletal system.
• Pediatric Otolaryngology: treatment of problems of the ear, nose and throat.
• Pediatric Physiatry: diagnosis and treatment of muscular disorders, including design of rehabilitation therapy.
• Pediatric Plastic/Reconstructive Surgery: plastic and reconstructive surgery for infants and children.
• Pediatric Pulmonology: lung diseases (cystic fibrosis and asthma), illnesses such as chronic bronchitis and pneumonia, and breathing difficulties in newborns. - More info ...
• Pediatric Radiology: x-rays, CT scans, MRI, nuclear and other diagnostic testing.
• Pediatric Surgery: general surgery for infants and children.
• Pediatric Urology: medical and surgical treatment of kidney and bladder disorders.
• Pediatric Perinatology: high-risk pregnancy care for both mother and child.