Be Involved in Your Child's Care
Tell Us About Your Child | Ask Questions
Family-Centered Rounds
Cincinnati Children’s is committed to providing care that is respectful of and responsive to your family’s preferences, needs and values.
Bedside rounds are an important part of familycentered care.You know your child best, so we welcome your participation in bedside rounds. The physicians and nurses on the care team will share information and will learn about your child from you.
Following are some ideas on how you can be involved in your child’s care. For more information, contact family-centered@cchmc.org.
Tell Us About Your Child
Doctors, nurses and others will ask many questions about your child. Nobody knows your child better than you, so please share those special details that help us know more about your child. Please tell us about:
- Concerns you may have that need immediate attention
- All medicines and dosages your child takes regularly
- Bring daily medications in their original containers with you for the care provider to review; then we will ask you to take them back home
- Medicine, vitamins and herbal supplements your child has taken in the past two weeks
- Special formulas or food your child needs
- Allergies to medicine, food or latex
- Your child’s shot record (immunizations)
- Previous illnesses or operations
- Previous hospital stays, tests or treatments
- Any personal, cultural or religious beliefs that will affect your child’s care
- Other information you feel is important for us to know about your child
Ask Questions
- Write down your questions as you think of them; you may be tired or stressed and forget your questions later
- Do not hesitate to ask to have something explained again or in a different way
- Ask about the benefits and risks of any medicines, tests, treatments or blood transfusions
- Ask about side effects of medicine or treatments
- Ask for explanation of test results
- Tell the care provider immediately if you think your child is having a bad reaction to a medicine
Medical Response Team
The Medical Response Team is a group of trained doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists who are called to see patients when there are signs they may be getting sicker. Warning signs may include anything from a bad feeling to extreme sleepiness, extreme restlessness or difficulty with breathing. The Medical Response Team can work with your child’s doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists to help determine the best course of action. They may suggest additional blood tests, X-rays, medications or may even suggest moving your child to another unit or to the intensive care unit. You can help by telling the nurse and doctor if you have concerns or bad feelings about how your child is doing. Ask the nurse, doctor or therapist if they think the Medical Response Team can help when there are warning signs your child is getting sicker.
