The transitional care unit is home to more than 30 residents who require 24-hour complex medical care. About half of the residents are ventilator dependent. Many of our residents have social barriers that prevent their families from being able to ensure their child gets to participate in family events, community events, and social activities. The nursing team goes above and beyond to support the residents and their families, ensuring the children are a part of their family’s milestones.  

One example of this care was the care provided for one of our long-term residents. He is a 10-year-old, who is ventilator dependent, and has lived with us since discharge from the PICU as a toddler. His mother was getting married, and the team supported his attendance at the wedding. They did this by having two team members accompany him. This allowed his family to focus on the wedding. The nurses that attended were able to ensure that he was dressed in his wedding attire and attended to all his needs during the event, including a first dance with his stepfather.  

On another occasion, it was noted that our resident’s mother wanted to visit on her daughter’s birthday. Normally, that would be a simple request, but this situation was a bit more challenging. The mother is in a long-term care facility and these facilities only arrange transport for medical appointments. Additionally, the request wasn’t received until 4pm of Friday. Her daughter’s birthday was on Sunday. The nursing team was able to work with care coordination and her mother’s facility to ensure that, since her mother could not come to her, we could work to get her ventilator-dependent daughter there. Ashlee from care coordination worked with the adult facility to ensure it was approved for her pediatric daughter to visit on Sunday, we were able to arrange transportation, and a TCU nurse volunteered to go with her to attend to her medical needs all by 5:30pm on that same Friday. The nurse ensured the resident had a special outfit and had her hair done for her visit. When the resident arrived at her mother’s facility, she smiled and put her arms out for her mother. The TCU nurse reported there was not a dry eye in the house.

On a weekly basis, nurses volunteer above their required hours to take our residents on scheduled trips out into the community. For example, this month we were able to take residents to see Santa, to see the light at Lewis Ginter, and to a movie. The TCU nursing team can also be found on any given day teaching one of our ambulatory residents ballet, providing snuggles, opening gifts, or being a hairdresser. Although our residents have significant medical needs requiring 24/7 nursing and medical care, the team consistently goes above and beyond to meet residents and their families' social and emotional needs.