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“We
have successes that rival any center in the United States or the world.”
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Dr.
Ronald Grifka
Director
of Critical Care
Cardiology & Inpatient Services
Texas Children's Heart Center
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RECOVERY ROOM
The gentle rise and fall of a baby’s chest is a sign of
life on the mend in Texas Children’s cardiovascular
recovery room.
Cardiovascular recovery is where patients, many less than
a week old, begin the healing process after a heart operation.
Their recovery begins in Texas Children’s
cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU), which has four pods, or areas.
Cardiovascular recovery patients may have had one of a
number of procedures, such as a heart catheterization,
pacemaker implantation, repair of a hole in the heart
or removal of a valve obstruction.
Entering cardiovascular recovery, one
sees
the pediatric cardiology nurses moving busily around the
patients’ beds and monitors.
The 12-bed area allows for better monitoring of
the patients. Patients spend an average of three days in cardiovascular recovery.
When patients leave cardiovascular recovery, they return
to the cardiology floor, infant care, the neonatal intensive
care unit or one of the CVICU pods.
Although most patients in cardiovascular
recovery are children, adults also are treated here. Adult
patients who suffered from congenital heart conditions
as children can be treated at the Texas Children’s
Heart Center throughout adulthood.
“We’ve treated all ages – from neonates to patients
in their 80s,” CVICU nurse director Gay Matthews said.
Recovery is greatly enhanced when a child receives skilled,
high-quality care during and after surgery.
“Everyone who works here has spent a long, long time
training,” said
Dr. Anthony Chang, medical director
of critical care cardiology at Texas Children’s Heart
Center.
“Most of the staff cardiologists have gone beyond basic
pediatric cardiology training to specialize further. If
you’re well educated and you do something a whole lot,
then you develop a very thorough knowledge base.”
