Division of Critical Care
The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (BMSCH) is a 20-bed, state-of-the-art multidisciplinary inpatient service that provides a full range of services to critically ill and injured children from birth to adulthood in a patient- and family-centered environment.
Overview
The family and patient are invited to join the PICU multidisciplinary team during patient care rounds. Families and patients have the opportunity to participate in their care plans, ask questions, and contribute to rounds. We welcome partnering with both inpatient and outpatient providers to help coordinate care for their patients.
Research
We have a busy research agenda allowing us to advance the care and outcomes of the sickest of children. This includes involvement such as the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI) collaborative and quality improvement programs through internal, regional, and national networks such as the Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS) Network.
Community Outreach
Our team regularly communicates with community pediatricians to give updates about the children they care for and about the services we can provide for their patients should they be critically ill. Additionally, we participate in educational seminars to help educate community pediatricians about updates in critical care. We are honored to collaborate with community pediatricians to provide comprehensive care to the critically ill children of Central and South Jersey.
In 2009 the Bristol-Myer Squibb Children’s Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit joined over 70 other Children’s Hospitals in a national collaborative sponsored by the Children’s Hospital Association to eliminate central line-associated bloodstream infections in children. Working with this group, we have significantly lowered our incidence of these hospital-acquired infections, and in 2012 had the honor of being named in Consumer Reports as one of the top 5 PICUs in the US for lowest central line infection rate.
Clinical Care Services
Our PICU is staffed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, by on-site board-certified and newly graduated board-eligible pediatric intensive care physicians. Our nurse practitioners are highly trained and experienced in acute care with the prestigious CPNP-AC certification.
As part of the accreditation process for pediatric trauma, our PICU is uniquely equipped to handle pediatric traumatic injury that comes to our American College of Surgeons accredited Level 2 pediatric trauma facility (one of only 3 in New Jersey).
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~50% of our staff nurses have the Pediatric CCRN certification obtained by a challenging examination along with evidence of significant experience. Their expertise in providing the highest quality of care for acutely/critically ill pediatric patients has helped our hospital attain its 6th Magnet designation in 2021.
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- We offer expertise in advanced organ support such as high-frequency oscillatory mechanical ventilation, continuous renal replacement therapy, plasmapheresis, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Our ECMO program has a Silver designation by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization.
- Our team is highly involved in the specialized pediatric transport service and serves as medical control for critical care transport at BMSCH.
- We provide pediatric sedation services for children undergoing scheduled inpatient and outpatient procedures. Various levels of sedation, from simple anxiety relief to deep sedation for painful or invasive procedures, are provided in the child-friendly, monitored Same Day Stay unit of the Children's Hospital.
- Sedation facilitates various procedures and tests, from those requiring a child to remain still, such as an echocardiogram or EEG lead placement, to invasive procedures, like lumbar punctures, bone marrow biopsies, and joint injections. Sedation is beneficial for developmentally delayed patients, who may have difficulty lying still due to fear or agitation.
Education
The following undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate education are provided on-site:
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- Monthly residency training in the fundamentals of pediatric critical care
- Monthly fourth-year sub-internship rotation through the PICU
- Pediatric Critical Care Nurse Practitioner students from the University of Pennsylvania
- Pediatric Critical Care Staff Nurse training
The division is responsible for and supervises the PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents on their required PICU rotation and supervises monthly "mock codes" for the pediatric residents. Residents and medical students are provided regular lectures about the fundamentals of critical care and extensive bedside teaching.
In conjunction with the Department of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Trauma Education at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the division is also responsible for the organization and teaching of Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) for residents and other trainees.
Members of the division continue to organize and run the pediatric transport training course for BMSCH. All sedation training and credentialing for the administration of sedation for pediatric patients is run by the division.
Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Contact Us
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
1 Robert Wood Johnson Place
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Office Phone: 732-235-7887
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: 732-937-8673