Inpatient Nursing Unit

Located on the 4th floor-NW of The Children's Hospital, this ten-bed inpatient unit opened in May of 1990 after previously being located at the University of Colorado Hospital for 28 years. The Pediatric CTRC staff provides unit coverage 24 hours, 7 days a week. Nursing expertise in patient care spans from healthy volunteers to acutely ill patients. The unit encompasses primarily pediatric patients, but also accommodates adult patients at times. The Pediatric CTRC is unique in both its approach to patient care and in its technical expertise. The nurses are continually developing new skills to meet the requirements of the wide variety of protocols that we run. We strongly advocate the TCH policy of Family Centered Care.

The Pediatric CTRC nurses are experienced in the implementation of sophisticated clinical studies. The nurses take care of patients from many services such as: GI, Hepatology, Cystic Fibrosis, Infectious Disease, Endocrinology, Neurology, Renal, Metabolic, Surgery, and Oncology.

A nurse protocol liaison is assigned to each study and works with the principal investigator (PI) and co-investigators to help start-up and implement the protocol by developing doctor's orders, flow sheets, guidelines, educating the staff, and acting as a resource for the staff. Nurses are also available to work with the investigators' research nurse and/or study coordinator during the course of the study.

Specialty Areas of the Pediatric CTRC Inpatient Unit

• Implementation of stimulation tests with serial specimen collections
• Metabolic/energy/fasting studies
• Nutrition balance and stable isotope studies
• Accurate timed blood drawing studies
• IVGTT/OGTT/MMGTT
• Pre-diabetic/insulin infusion studies
• Long-stay outpatient studies
• Ketogenic diet/seizure studies
• Assistance in liver biopsies and bronchoscopies
• Investigational drug/pharmokinetic studies

For more information on the Pediatric CTRC Inpatient Nursing Unit contact:

Ms. Diane Branham
Nurse Manager
720-777-3195