Saving brains while children are unwell
From the moment we meet a child and family, my team and I become partners that need to respectfully, but sometimes under time pressure, understand how the illness started, what we can do to help and how we fit in with the overarching goals and wherever this might take the child and family.
Person-centred care is not just a word for us but has been filled with our own experiences as humans, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, friends and loved ones as part of “our villages” in so many contexts.
We learn how we can let these reflections make us better clinicians, nor let our own experiences or personalities overshadow what the child and family are going through while showing compassion in a professional and inclusive way, sharing some of our insight gleaned from “consumers of healthcare” or being part of learning in the personal and professional context.
My professional passion is neurocritical care. I focus my and our teams’ efforts on saving brains while children are unwell. The brain is a very special organ that holds so many things that make us unique.
Connections between the cells, different parts of the brain and the brain, spine, nerves, and muscle including all vital organs, are intricate and myriad, much more complex in number and connectivity than the stars in our galaxy.
To learn more about how we can protect this vital organ and partner with the child and their family while they are unwell, help us work out what to prioritise in our Research, Education and Training and how we might create resources for children and families.
As these resources grow, we would love to continue to partner with universities, organisations, research institutes, and most importantly, our patients and families and co-design this program.
Watch this space for info on stroke in children, how we might monitor the brain for seizures and other changes in the brain during an illness, and how an interdisciplinary team can partner with the families during their stay in PICU and beyond, including our new program that focuses on every child, every day, back to play.
So, let’s reach for the stars on this exciting journey #PICUStars.
