Patient and Family Centered Care

When your child comes to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, we welcome you and your family, too.

It’s good for our young patients to keep their families close. Having you near gives them strength and comfort. It makes them feel better. It can even help them heal better. That’s why we treat you like a member of our health care team.

We value your thoughts and ideas about their treatment plan. You can share your family beliefs, customs and way of life so we know what your family needs and wants. Tell us all the special things about your child — how we should explain things so they understand, what they like and don’t like, and what they plan to do once they go home.

That’s what we mean by patient and family-centered care. It guides everyone in our organization, as we work together to satisfy the emotional, spiritual, social and medical needs of our patients. 

You can rest assured that… 

You will always know and understand what is happening with your child.

Really good communication is at the heart of patient and family-centered care. We share information with you, your child, your family members — even your community groups, schools, other health care agencies and specialists. Everyone who is important to your child’s improvement will get the information they need. You can help us do that.

We have what you need to be comfortable here.

Hospitals are busy, noisy places. To reduce stress and worry, you need a place of calm and comfort. So we designed our hospital spaces so families can be with children in privacy and comfort according to their needs. In fact, the parents and grandparents of children treated at Nationwide Children’s told us exactly how to create a feeling of home where you have everything you need to relax, play and be together whenever it’s possible.

Families are treated with respect.

You are never “in the way,” even when we look busy. If you have a question, we will answer it. Everyone at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is responsible for caring for your child — and for you. We all understand the stress you feel when your child is here for care. And we all strive to be professional, respectful and helpful — with you on our team, we can make sure your child’s needs are being met.