Practicing good medicine involves bedside care, insight, good nutrition and taking care of the emotional and social needs of patients and their families. Our nurses work in a variety of areas of expertise within Texas Children’s Heart Center to contribute to your child's care. Many of our nurses draw from 10 or more years of experience caring for pediatric cardiology patients.
Nurse practitioners and coordinators
Our pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) are advanced practice nurses who assess and evaluate a patient’s medical history and physical condition, write orders and prescribe medications.
Our nurse coordinators use a triage system for scheduling patients in the outpatient clinic. When you arrive for an appointment, a registered nurse assesses and prepares your child for their exam. The nurse also coordinates the care prescribed by the doctor.
Nurses in the echocardiography lab, transplant services and pacemaker clinic keep you informed while procedures are performed.
In the cardiac catheterization lab
Working closely with the physicians, nurses in this lab assist in choosing catheters and wires best suited for patients. They document the cases and sedate patients before catheterization.
In addition, a nurse coordinator acts as a liaison between referring physicians, Texas Children’s cardiologists and the patients’ families.
Surgical nurse clinicians
Surgery patients receive care from teams of nurses during each stage: preoperative, operative and postoperative care.
Before surgery, the nurse clinician provides information and helps your family prepare. During surgery, the nurse clinicians work with the operating room nurses and serve as contacts between the cardiologists and surgeons. In the postoperative phase, surgical nurse clinicians work with the bedside nurses in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and report any changes to family members.
In the operating room
Operating room (OR) nurses are essential. They assist the surgeons and coordinate the operating room tasks performed by the surgical team. OR nurses are liaisons between the operating room and the surgical nurse clinicians who update parents on their child’s status during surgery.
In the cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU)
Immediately following surgery, your child is taken to the cardiac intensive care unit (CVICU). Here, nurses closely monitor the patients’ conditions and watch for postoperative complications. They keep the doctors informed of any changes in your child's condition and stay in close contact with the surgical nurse clinicians to schedule postoperative procedures.
