CHAM has three pediatric cardiothoracic nurse practitioners. Their roles are to provide comprehensive and seamless care to patients and families coping with cardiothoracic conditions. Nurse practitioners enhance communication among team members, provide continuity of care and facilitate inpatient throughput. They also carry out therapeutic procedures such as removal of pacing wires, intracardiac lines, chest tubes and sutures, and they monitor, maintain and report progress of patients to the supervising physician. On the floors, they initiate transfers and discharges, place orders and evaluate new consultations with the supervising physician.
The nurse practitioners lecture for the Pediatric Cardiac Core Curriculum, which provides professional leadership and mentoring to advanced practice nursing students from various nursing programs throughout New York City.
The nurse practitioners rotate their inpatient care responsibilities to gain experience in a variety of areas, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), ventricular assist devices (VAD), research, clinical databases, the Gift of Life program and development of clinical practice guidelines.