Other Support Staff

The Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA currently has four Certified Nurse Practitioners and one Certified Pediatric Oncology Nurse who are part of the patient-care team in the division. Their duties encompass inpatient and outpatient responsibilities. These include; complete case management of all patients. Complete case management entails assessing the patient and their family's inpatient and outpatient physical and psychosocial needs, which includes consulting with appropriate ancillary services e.g. social work, home health, etc., participating in team conferences to coordinate patient transitions from inpatient to outpatient services, and evaluation of those services and outcomes. They also serve as resources to hospital staff and outside agencies in regard to our families and their needs

One of our Nurse Practitioners works primarily with the inpatient service, where she coordinates inpatient-to-outpatient transitions, provides continuity for the patients and their families as the Attendings and Fellows rotate through the service, providing patient and family education, assisting floor nurses with protocols and acting as a liaison between nursing services and the Division. She is also available to help with procedures (Bone marrow biopsies and LPs).

She also serves as BMT Coordinator for the Division, coordinating the BMT process from referral from outside institutions to pre-transplant, including BMT talks, through the transplant hospitalization itself. She also assists in follow-up care of BMT patients after discharge. She is responsible for the weekly BMT meeting during which all current and prospective BMT patients are reviewed.

Our outpatient Nurse Practitioners and CPON are responsible for overall case management of our outpatients (except for BMT patients) and in particular for our Brain Tumor, Leukemia/ Lymphoma, and Sarcoma patients. They manage the outpatient clinics, including clinic scheduling and overseeing ordering of chemotherapy and studies such as PET/CTs and MRIs.

Regulatory paperwork, such as continuations/renewals and responding to IRB queries regarding our COG, non-COG, and industry research protocols is coordinated by our Nurse Practitioners as well. And they coordinate care and facilitate data collection on our study patients, assist in the consenting process.

Child-Life Department

Child Life Specialists are an integral part of the Mattel Children's Hospital pediatric hematology/oncology team. Child Life/Child Development Specialists are professionally trained with bachelors or masters degrees inspecific areas such as Child Life/Child Development, education or related fields.

Specialist provide services for children, adolescents, and young adults. These services are offered both inpatient and outpatient to provide ongoing support throughout the course of treatment. Child Life Specialists address the social, emotional, and developmental needs of hematology/oncology patients. Therapeutic intervention, play and educational programs are individualized through developmental observations. Child Life Specialists facilitate opportunities for children to develop positive coping skills, be expressive, gain knowledge through patient information and master the potentially traumatic realities of disease, intrusive medical treatments,separation and isolation. Specialist work closely with the medical team by observing, interpreting, and reporting significant behaviours. Consultation to health care team members regarding the individual developmental and psychosocial issues and needs of the children are also provided.

Child Life Specialists also work with siblings to help them to understand potential physical, emotional, and familial changes that coincide with diagnosis and medical treatment.

The recently opened "Hope Room", sponsored by the Sean's Hope Foundation, provides patients and thier families with a library of informative and inspirational books related to pediatric cancer, a research computer with Internet access, and research assistance during specified hours.  It is the means to empower parents to actively particiapte in equipping themselves with the knowledge and tools to successfully help their children and their families through diagnosis and treament. They will be able to obtain information covering a wide range from basic information about different diseases to connecting with other families that have gone through similar circumstances...and above all...to come away with hope."

For further information please contact Hilary Gan and or Laila Ramji at the Department of Child Life/Child Development Services at 310-825-5602 or the Department of Hematology/Oncology.