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As a pediatric intensivist, I take care of the sickest of children. They have many types of illnesses, such as pneumonia, sepsis, seizures, kidney failure, and neurologic injury. Doing so requires attention to every detail found out in exams and labs, and often doing some detective work to find out the underlying cause of the illness. I am amazed by the resilience of children and families and their ability, with the support of critical care treatments, to recover.

Effective teamwork, communication, and partnerships with families are essential in providing lifesaving critical care. I work closely with families to ensure that we are partnering around care and solutions to their child’s treatment, and we perform daily family-centered rounds to ensure the most-effective care and communication for our patients.

In addition to doing this work with families directly, I also teach these skills to residents and fellows, as well as other members of our interprofessional team utilizing simulation. Additionally, I work with collaboratively with doctors across the nation to look at ways to optimize communication with families to provide the most effective care to all patients.

It is a privilege to be able to practice pediatric critical care medicine, supporting patients and families through a stressful period of illness and making a difference in a child’s life.