June 10, 2014

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It’s surgery day. You park your car, arrive at the hospital, but you’re not exactly sure where to go. Navigating the hallways and buildings of a large hospital campus can add an extra layer of anxiety to an already stressful experience for patients and their families.

“We want to create a positive experience for every single patient who walks through our doors,” said Mallory Caldwell, senior vice president of Administration at Texas Children’s. “We’re always searching for innovative approaches to ensure the delivery of superior customer service to our patients and their families.”

As part of a newly launched 4-month pilot program that started May 26, Texas Children’s Facilities Planning and Development department has designed wayfinding signs to improve navigation to the surgical suites at the Clinical Care Center (CCC) and West Tower, as well as contribute to a positive arrival experience for surgery patients.

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You’ve probably noticed the colorful, kid-friendly animal signage posted inside and outside the elevators, lobby, hallways and connecting bridges at the CCC and West Tower. The fishes, frogs and dragon flies direct patients easily to specific check-in locations for different operating room suites:

  • Fish = West Tower, Third Floor
  • Frog = Clinical Care Center, Seventh Floor
  • Dragon Fly = West Tower, 17th Floor

“To accommodate our diverse patient population, the animal signs are intended to reduce language barrier issues that arise with traditional verbiage signage when translation is often required,” said Doug Fowler, graphics program manager at Texas Children’s Facilities Planning and Development. “Patients simply follow the animal symbols to get to their respective check-in location for surgery.”

During the summer, Texas Children’s sees approximately 100 patients for surgery every weekday. The pilot is focused on those patients that arrive very early in the morning for the “first case,” as they are most in need of additional support upon arrival.

Equipped with copies of the surgery schedule, volunteers in blue vests will greet patients immediately upon arrival and will direct them to their proper surgical check-in locations. Patients are given an all new pre-surgery packet.

“We want our patients to arrive at their check-in location easily, and we encourage all Texas Children’s employees to be part of this collaborative process by becoming familiar with the signage and what it stands for,” says Dr. Larry Hollier, chief of Plastic Surgery at Texas Children’s.

The pilot program, along with feedback received from the patient experience surveys, will help us identify which areas need to be fine-tuned.

Watch the newest “I am Texas Children’s” video featuring employee Susan Fernandez in West Campus Emergency Center. “I knew this would be an awesome place to work,” Susan said. “Everyone is so kind and generous, especially to the children.”

Check out her video, and find out how you and your coworkers can be featured in the “I Am Texas Children’s” section on Connect. 

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Many hospitals have Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), but not all NICUs are the same.

Texas Children’s Newborn Center is one of the only level IV NICUs in the Houston region that is able to provide babies with the highest level of care. In fact, many area hospitals with less advanced NICUs transfer infants to us when more experience and specialized care is required.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics differentiates between units by defining levels of care based on the complexity of medical conditions the facility is equipped to treat. We hope this will help you better understand the different levels of care in the NICU:

Level I: Regular nursery care available at most hospitals that deliver babies

Level II: Intensive care for sick and premature infants

Level III: Comprehensive care for more seriously ill newborns

Level IV: Major surgery, surgical repair of serious congenital heart and anomalies that require cardiopulmonary bypass and/or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for medical conditions. Level IV units include the capabilities of level III with additional capabilities and considerable experience in the care of the most complex and critically ill newborn infants and should have pediatric medical and pediatric surgical specialty consultants continuously available 24 hours a day.

Many area hospitals have level II or III NICUs, but are not equipped to provide the most advanced level of care some newborns need. Our combined level II and III NICUs offer specialty care for newborns. An additional level IV NICU located across the connecting bridge gives babies more extensive support and access to dozens of pediatric subspecialists.

Texas Children’s Newborn Center was recently ranked no. 2 in this year’s U.S. News & World Report survey, a gain from last year’s no. 17 ranking. As you know, U.S. News ranks the top 50 pediatric centers in 10 specialty areas, so being recognized within the top two is no small feat.

Our commitment to improving neonatal outcomes is really something to be proud of, and I am grateful that our diligent efforts are making a positive impact in the lives of so many babies.

For more information about Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women and our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, visit here and to take a video tour of our NICU, visit here.

June 3, 2014

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The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is known around the world as perhaps the most prestigious medical publication. The peer-reviewed medical journal publishes research, editorials, review articles and case reports and is a window into the world of medicine. So when the work of three Texas Children’s advanced practice nurses was selected to be published in the journal, they were thrilled about their findings being shared with medical professionals around the world.

Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Amy McCay, director of Advanced Practice Providers Elizabeth “Charley” Elliott, and Nurse Scientist Marlene Walden produced an instructional video on Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter PICC placement in neonates with information on what the complications can be. “Being recognized as a nurse published in a medical journal elevates the science of nursing,” Elliot said. “The selection involves a rigorous process that evaluates manuscripts for scientific accuracy and importance.”

The three learned so much from their investigation that they wanted to share their findings in a publication that would be seen around the globe. They submitted an instructional video on PICC placement in the neonatal patient population and a written overview of the process. The nurses hoped that sharing the knowledge they gained would help other nurses learn the best method for this procedure and how to avoid complications.

“The video is innovative and offers clinicians an opportunity to see into the procedure,” Elliott said. “It brings the process together for those who need visuals and brings the work to a whole new level.”

The journal receives more than 5,000 submissions a year and only about five percent are actually selected and published. All submissions are reviewed by panels of experts that review the current literature and determine if what is being submitted is relevant to current practice and represents evidence.

For the nurses, the process of submission started in 2011 when they began to determine the patients who would be involved in the video, the information that would be presented and how to best present this procedure.

Once submitted, a panel of experts reviews for content, relevance, and best evidence available before they will consent to publish in the journal. Most of the articles published are submitted by physicians and researchers, so the nurses were honored to be selected.

As Elliot puts it, “To have a nurse published in a medical journal is big and validating.”

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Watch the newest “Super Star” video featuring Felicia Cruise in Ambulatory Services. “I have an attitude to pursue great customer service,” Felicia said. “I seek to treat people the way I want to be treated.”

Check out her video, and find out how you can nominate a Super Star to be featured in the “Super Star” section on Connect.

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As we celebrate our 60th birthday this year, we wanted to take a closer look at what the hospital was like throughout the years. Take a peek at the 1980s by visiting our Facebook page!

By Amy Aiken Puglia

When Steven and I decided to grow our family, we had no idea it would happen so soon. It really took us by surprise when those two pink lines appeared! That’s why it was so comforting to know that I would have access to great quality care just a hop, skip, and a jump away at the Pavilion for Women. While I haven’t been skipping, hopping, or jumping to any of my recent appointments being seven months pregnant, it is with an even greater confidence and trust that I check in at each visit with my new women’s specialist, Dr. Codi Weiner. I have found the Women’s Specialists of Houston, and particularly Dr. Weiner and her staff, to be very responsive to all of my worried first-time-mom calls and emails. Also, they have readily worked with me in re-booking appointments when I have any scheduling blunders that need sorting out.


Click above to view the very creative announcement “trailer.”

Some of the most amazing experiences we’ve had since the three of us started this new journey include hearing our daughter’s heartbeat for the first time when she was just seven weeks old and then seeing her for the first time during our anatomy scan sonogram appointment at nineteen weeks. As we looked into my “womb with a view” and saw our little girl, it was as though she knew mommy and daddy were watching. She began to wiggle, stretch, and tap dance her way deeper into our hearts. Towards the end of the appointment, she began to get sleepy (as you can tell from the clip at the end of our video). She let out a big yawn and then nestled down for a nap. So cute! We just cannot wait to meet her and get to know her as the newest member of the Puglia family. 

​About Amy Puglia: Amy is the manager of emergency management. She and her husband, Steven, are expecting their first on July 25.