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NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children's Hospital

Family Advisory Council (FAC)

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Promoting family-centered care

The NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children's Hospital Family Advisory Council (FAC), established in 2007, is a diverse group of parents, caregivers, and hospital staff devoted to making the hospital a better place for children and their families. As a group, we collaborate with hospital leadership, staff, and administration to promote the safest, highest-quality medical care in the most family-friendly and child-centered environment possible. 

The Family Advisory Council’s vision is to promote an environment where parent, caregiver, and family involvement in a child’s care is encouraged and welcomed by all. We accomplish this by: 

  • Working to enhance the delivery of patient- and family-centered care by serving on various hospital committees 
  • Promoting communication and encouraging collaboration between families and hospital staff through co-education and the development of safety initiatives 
  • Working to make a child’s stay at the hospital as comfortable and pleasant as possible through the improvement of patient and family services 
  • Providing families with the information, guidance, and resources they need to care for their children in and out of the hospital 
  • Helping to empower patients and families through various diversity initiatives 

Interested in joining the Family Advisory Council? Please click here to apply.

About our work

The Family Advisory Council is constantly finding new and innovative ways to involve patients, families, and caregivers directly in hospital care. Our work continues to evolve and our council has grown from only five individuals to now over 30 members and more than a dozen hospital staff. Hospital staff participation spans NewYork-Presbyterian and departmental leadership teams, physicians, nurses, social workers, and child life specialists. 

Our work has been highlighted at several international conferences, and our programs have been nationally recognized and awarded for partnering with hospital staff, promoting patient- and family-centered care, and enhancing the patient experience. We strive to represent the diverse voices of our patients and families because every person and voice counts.

Family advisors

Family Advisors are members of the NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital Family Advisory Council. They are a diverse group of trained parent and caregiver volunteers who had or currently have a child in the hospital. They offer unique insight and perspective, and collaborate closely with hospital staff to improve patient- and family-centered care. 

Family Advisors attend monthly council meetings from September through June. Additionally, they participate in work groups that may require in-person attendance at meetings and events at the hospital. 

As NewYork-Presbyterian volunteers, Family Advisors must complete background checks and medical clearance. Ongoing training is required. Family Advisors are also required to follow the Patient and Family Advisor Code of Conduct and the NewYork-Presbyterian Respect Credo. 

To apply to join the Family Advisory Council, please click here.

Areas of focus

The Family Advisory Council serves the hospital, patients, families, and caregivers in the following key areas: 

  • Family Support Group: The Family Support Group, in partnership with hospital staff, provides support to families and caregivers with a child in the hospital. The Group focuses on three types of support: special occasion and holiday events, support programs (such as parent-to-parent mentoring), and in-person meetings. 
  • Advisory committees: Family Advisory Council members are active participants on more than 20 hospital Advisory Committees. We work alongside physicians, nurses, administrators, and other hospital staff to provide a family perspective and to promote patient- and family-centered care. The Advisory Committees cover diverse subjects, including quality and safety, bereavement, operations, facilities, and patient experience. 
  • Family faculty: The Family Faculty is a group of Family Advisory Council members who partner with hospital staff to co-educate medical students, fellows, residents, and nurses through interactive case studies based on actual events. The Family Faculty program offers the unique opportunity for staff to practice role-playing with parents in a no-risk setting and receive feedback from a parent perspective. 
  • Quality and safety: We're devoted to providing the highest quality of care in a safe environment for patients, families, caregivers, and hospital staff. Initiatives include: 
    • Participating with Solutions for Patient Safety Network, a network of over 145 children’s hospitals that share the vision that no child will ever experience serious harm while receiving medical care. 
    • Speak Up for Safety, a program where we partnered with hospital staff to create safety cards to help promote patient engagement at the bedside and to empower families to raise concerns. 
    • The Simulation-based Discharge Program, which teaches caregivers how to care for medical devices prior to hospital discharge 
    • Code ONC, a protocol to ensure timely administration of antibiotics to cancer patients with fever and neutropenia (low white blood cell count) upon their arrival in the Emergency Department.
Our programs

Learn more about our unique Family Advisory Council programs and how they help promote family-centered care at NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children's Hospital. 

  • Parent-to-Parent Mentoring Program: Our Parent-to-Parent Mentoring Program (P2P) is a patient- and family-centered care service that matches parents or caregivers of children who are being or have been cared for at the hospital with a trained veteran NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital parent. Since parents and caregivers share many common experiences, the P2P match offers a unique form of support. This differs from the support found in large groups because it is strictly one-to-one. 

    For more information, contact: 
    Mariela Guerra, Family Advisory Council Program Coordinator 
    [email protected] 
    212-746-6007
     
  • Simulation-Based Discharge Program: At NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital, we understand the challenges of looking after your child when a medical device is needed upon discharge from the hospital. Our team has created an innovative program to help families and caregivers of children with medical devices prepare for discharge through the use of a medical simulation manikin. Our aim is to help you feel more comfortable and confident in caring for your child with a medical device. *This program is free and provided in addition to all the other support and discharge services offered by our hospital. 

    For more information, contact: 
    [email protected] 
Notable FAC achievements

Our contributions to patient- and family-centered care often reach beyond the walls of NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital and have received local, regional, and national recognition. As a group, our FAC has: 

  • Developed the Simulation-based Discharge Program (SDP), a patient education initiative created to help families of technology-supported children prepare for hospital discharge 
  • Received the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care Inaugural Partnership Award and had an article published in Hospital Pediatrics on SDP (2021) 
  • Prepared multiple publications related to Patient Experience during COVID for the Patient Experience Policy Forum of the Beryl Institute 
  • Presented at the virtual Solutions for Patient Safety Network New York State Regional Conference in 2020 
  • Awarded ICU Hero award at 2018 annual congress of the Society of Critical Care Medicine 
  • Contributed to an IMPACT QI research collaborative that reduced readmissions by using a Pediatric Discharge Bundle, paper published in Pediatrics (2017) 
  • Developed a Pediatric Delirium Prevention Toolkit, abstract published in the Journal of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (2017) 
  • Family Advisory Council members, in partnership with hospital staff, created Speak Up for Safety cards to promote patient engagement at the bedside (2016) 
  • Invited to present Science Sessions Transitions in Care for Medically Complex Patients at Pediatric Academic Societies and Pediatric Hospital Medicine conferences 
  • Involved in patient- and family-centered care expansion across local, regional, and national organizations: 
    • Workshops at Pediatric Academic Societies Patient- and Family-Centered Care Special Interest Groups 
    • Three presentations at IPFCC Conferences 
  • Participated in Solutions for Patient Safety Network New York State Regional Research Study 
  • Currently serving as the family and patient advisor on the Solutions for Patient Safety Network Ambulatory CLABSI Strategy Taskforce 
  • Served as family advisors to the hospital’s Delirium Workgroup and on several research projects about PICU delirium 
  • Presented at Patient-Centered Fridays - 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2019 
  • Presented at Grand Rounds – NewYork- Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital (2013), Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center (2014), Winthrop Hospital (2015), Weill Cornell Medical Department of Pediatrics (2013, 2022) 
  • Presented at Pediatric Fellows Grand Rounds on the Code ONC Program (2021) 
  • Presented Ambulatory Safety Story at National Solutions for Patient Safety Network Conference (2021)

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