At Kingston General Hospital, we believe in a philosophy of Patient- and Family-Centred Care. That means we partner with you and your child to provide you with the highest quality of care. Our health-care teams will listen to you and work with you to ensure that you are actively involved in the decisions that impact your child's care.
Every member of your child’s care team plays an important role and brings vital expertise to the team, but we want you to play a role too. You’re the expert in the most important subject of all: your child. You know about their history, their family, their preferences and their needs. By listening to you and your loved ones and putting your voices at the centre of everything we do, we ensure that your child gets the care they need, in the way that makes the most sense for them. Our goal is to get your child healthy, home and back to your normal life as quickly as possible. If you would like more information about what to expect while your child is a patient, click here.
Specifically, in Pediatrics and the NICU, there are some care team members who provide specialized care. They are:
Charge nurse: Each shift there is an experienced registered nurse that is in charge of the shift on the unit. The charge nurse is available to assist all the staff, assign nurses to babies/children, and make sure that the NICU/Pediatric units runs smoothly. If you have concerns or questions, the charge nurse will be happy to assist you at anytime.
Registered nurses: The front-line registered nurses that care for your child in the NICU and Pediatrics have special training in each area. Nurses work a combination of 8 hour and 12 hour shifts, therefore you will have several different nurses caring for you baby during your stay. Please feel free to talk to your child’s nurse about your child’s care and progress.
Neonatal nurse practitioner (NP): Delivers comprehensive care to preterm and full-term infants, some with life-threatening conditions and chronic illness. They attend high-risk births and conduct neonatal resuscitation. Our NP is an expert in neonatal care, managing patient care and working with parents and families during times of intense stress.
Neonatologist: A neonatologist is a pediatrician specially trained in the care of high risk babies. Neonatologists supervise the medical care of your baby. There are four main neonatologists who take turns supervising the NICU around the clock. We also have neonatologists that work in other NICU’s in Ontario that come to KGH to provide care from time to time.
Pediatrician: A pediatrician is a doctor that specializes in the medical care of children.
Consultant physician: If your baby requires, NICU will ask specialists to consult and help manage your infants’ medical care. The consultants at Kingston General Hospital include general surgery, cardiology, respiratory, genetics, gastroenterology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology, ears, nose and throat, orthopedics, plastic surgery, urology, hematology and oncology. These physicians are pediatricians or surgeons that have specialized in a specific area of care of the pediatric population.
