After your child has been initially assessed and treated, or their condition improved, they may be moved from ED, NICU or PICU to a place where they can receive further care . These longer-term care areas are called Wards.

the first person you are likely to meet will be the nurse who will be looking after your child. They may look after only your child or a small number of children depending on how much care your child needs. They may be dressed in navy blue or colourful scrubs.

you will very likely meet the resident or registrar early on. They are a doctor who is working toward becoming a specialist. They will ask you questions about your child and gather information for the treating specialist. They will take notes on how your child is doing throughout your NICU stay, organise tests or do minor procedures such as inserting IV cannulas.

or consultant – while your child is ‘on the ward’ they will be visited regularly by their treating specialist (also called the consultant) who might be a specialist paediatrician, paediatric surgeon or specialise in certain areas of the body, depending on the type of illness or injury that brought your child into hospital. Your child’s specialist or team may request other specialists or teams to come and provide their expertise about a specific aspect of your child’s care. Consultants usually visit once each day for a ward round but are available for the junior doctors and nurses on the ward to contact for advice if there are urgent problems or questions that can’t wait until the next ward round. You can always ask questions of your nurse or the junior doctors. If they cannot answer your question, they will ask the specialist or you may catch them on one of their ward rounds. On the wards, there are often rounding times when the specialists are checking on all the children in their care. Just ask the nurse when your child’s consultant is likely to be doing rounds.