Providence Children's Unit

The Providence Children's Unit (PCU) is a dedicated wing at Providence Hospital with 7 inpatient and 4 short stay beds. The unit is designed to provide all levels of care for patients and their families in a comfortable home-like environment. Patient rooms accommodate parents who want to stay with their child and include a TV and VCR. Other amenities on the unit include a family lounge with a small kitchenette, lockers, shower/restroom facilities and a playroom complete with recreational activities for children of all ages.

The PCU and its dedicated staff are focused on providing the ultimate quality of care for the child undergoing surgery. Central to this patient-focused care is precedence for decreasing fear, anxiety, and pain in the pediatric surgical patient.

The nursing staff has strong clinical experience in pediatric nursing. There is 24-hour coverage by board-certified pediatric critical care physicians, and a pediatric anesthesiologist. The PCU also supports a pediatric social worker who interfaces with children and their families at Providence Hospital in both the inpatient and outpatient settings, addressing their social and emotional needs at the time of surgery.

Primary Services

• Preoperative evaluations and consultative services
• Intraoperative care and anesthesia services
• Postanesthesia recovery services
• Postoperative inpatient care in consultation with the primary surgical service
• Management and coordination of intensive care when necessary and appropriate
• Coherent, skillful management of postoperative pain for both inpatients and outpatients
• Anesthesia and sedation services for children undergoing painful or prolonged diagnostic procedures in which immobility is of paramount importance. These services are provided in our uniquely designed treatment room
• Research on acute pain management, perioperative ventilatory control, and other issues of clinical concern regarding the special needs of children undergoing surgery.
• Educational services relating to the specialized needs of children in pain and the medical management of children undergoing surgery.

Contacts