Meals “at Your request” - Johns Hopkins Children's Center

The CCSr is going to
welcome the family in.
It’s what we’ve always
wanted to do, but in
the past it wasn’t ideal
because you had to
have somebody else
watch your patient
while you got the
parent.
– CHrISTy rICHTer, r.N.
building with faculty and not have words
such as “opportunity” and “promise” pepper
their conversation. To a person, they
see the structure through their professional
prism and glimpse new ways of healing.
Call it the potential beyond the amenity,
but it’s everywhere one looks. For Child
Life Director Patrice Brylske, those playful,
oversized sculptures, the hundreds of
pieces of fascinating art that dot the walls,
the colorful playrooms on each floor, are
more than just a delightful aesthetic; each is
a potential conversation starter with a child,
an entree for building trust and taking fear
out of the hospital experience, which leads
to better healing.
“The old building restricted a lot of the
lovely things we wanted to do for patients
and families, but this environment is so
stimulating, so rich, it feels so freeing,” says
Brylske. “Now we have to challenge ourselves
to use what’s in this beautiful building
to support our work.”
Part of her vision involves using the
Great Room—a two story gym-size facility
on the 11th and 12th floors—and other
open spaces to expand Child Life’s creative
arts program. “We have such diverse space
now that we can accommodate a menagerie
of artists, from music and art to dance,
poetry and drama, elements that we didn’t
have the space for before, to have that quality
interaction with patients and families.”
Brylske also mentions the private rooms
that are the standard accommodations as
being of great benefit to engaging children
in play, especially those who aren’t mobile.
The 205 private rooms are cited time and
10 HOPKINS CHILDreN’S | hopkinschildrens.org
Christy richter, r.N., with Clinical Customer service representative Keya Keys.
again by staff as perhaps the key central element
in improving all aspects of patient
care. Many are quick to point out the
family-friendly details such as on-demand
room service, family lounges with microwave
ovens and overnight beds. Pleasing
amenities to be sure, but purposeful as well;
keeping families on-site longer and close to
their loved ones has numerous ancillary
benefits.
Sally Radovick, Director of Pediatric Endocrinology,
sees the private rooms as offering
the ideal educational space for parents
who suddenly have to cope with a child’s
life-changing illness. She points to children
admitted because of life-threatening diabetic
ketoacidosis, often the first sign that
they have Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes.
“An important aspect, during the acute
phase, is to begin teaching (chronic disease
management),” says Radovick. “Learning
about insulin dosing, what type I diabetes
is, nutritional support…it’s critical for this
initiation of self-care for the chronic state.
Now, parents can stay with their child in a
single room round the clock, and they can
learn from the nursing staff and diabetes educators
how to take care of this child, how
to give the insulin injection, and participate
in carbohydrate counting each meal, which
was potentially more difficult to do in a
room with two or more children.”
Director of Pediatric Nephrology Barbara
Fivush also credits the private rooms
for fostering better staff-family/patient conversations.
In just the short time the hospital
has been open—the official start date
was May 1st—Fivush says she can see and
hear the change.
“Our service has many chronically-