Empowering pediatric cardiac care teams: Highlights from Children’s National at the PCICS Annual Meeting

Children’s National had a strong presence at this year’s Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (PCICS) conference. Our team members served as speakers, moderators, panelists and presenters—highlighting our ongoing commitment to research, collaboration, and innovation in pediatric cardiac intensive care.
Children’s Nation al was well represented throughout this year’s Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (PCICS) conference, with many team members serving as speakers, moderators, panelists and contributing podium presentations and posters—demonstrating our ongoing commitment to research, collaboration and innovation in pediatric cardiac intensive care.
The society hosted its Annual Meeting on October 9–12 in Austin, Texas, bringing together more than 500 clinicians and allied health professionals dedicated to advancing the care of children with heart disease.
Children’s National topics and speakers
- APP Mentorship: “Creating Longevity–Mentoring Throughout the Career”, Christine Riley, NP, CPNP-AC
- Building Your Support Network: Leveraging a Sponsor, Coach and Mentor for Success, Melissa Jones, MSN, CPNP-AC
- Creating Connection as a Leader, Melissa Jones, MSN, CPNP-AC
- Effective Cardiac Arrest Debriefing, Justine Florkiewicz, DNP, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CCRN, CHSE
- Evolution of Heart Failure Medical Management and Extracorporeal Support, Shri Deshpande, MD
- Harnessing the Power of Moments as a Leader, Melissa Jones, MSN, CPNP-AC
- Nursing Preconference Workshop, Justine Florkiewicz, DNP, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CCRN, CHS, Melissa Jones, MSN, CPNP-AC

Dr. Deshpande and several Children’s National team members delivered thought-provoking presentations at this year’s PCICS Conference in Austin, Texas.
Poster submissions and presentations
- A Self-Sustaining Nursing Simulation Program in Uganda: A Train-the-Trainers Program, Leah Arold, MSN, RN, Cara Pleau MSN, RN, Justine Fortkiewicz, DNP, MSN, CHSE
- Bear Huddles: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Skin Health and Zero Harm, Cara Pleau, MSN, RN, Laura Welch, BSN, RN, CWON, NPD-BC, CPN
- Clinical and Sociodemographic Factors Associated with the Involvement of Specialized Palliative Care in Children with Heart Disease at the End of Life: A Multicenter Analysis, Hannah Daughtrey, MD
- Development of continuity model for echocardiography in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit: a quality improvement initiative, Lisa Hom, RN, Anita Krishnan, MD, Suma Goudar, MD, Michelle Udine, MD, Ashraf Harahsheh, MD, Yuliya Domnina, MD
- Epidemiology of Deaths in Patients with Cardiac Disease at Pediatric Institutions, and the Contemporary Role of Subspecialty Palliative Care, Hannah Daughtrey MD
- Feeding practices and lactation support vary among United States pediatric cardiac intensive care units: A CoRe-PCICS survey, Christine Riley, NP, CPNP-AC
- Incorporating Virtual Reality Simulations into Weekly In Situ Simulations in the CICU, Cara Pleau, MSN, RN, Justine Fortkiewicz, DNP, MSN, CHSE
- Implementation of an Interprofessional Virtual Reality Simulation Program, Cara Pleau, MSN, RN, Justine Fortkiewicz, DNP, MSN, CHSE
- Resiliency Program for Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Nurses, Justine Fortkiewicz, DNP, MSN, CHSE
- The learning curve of novel palliation strategy for HLHS: Rapid Two-Stage Norwood, Bao Puente, MD, Gil Wernovsky, MD, Ricardo Munoz, MD, Mary Donofrio, MD, Manan Desa, MD, Aybala Tongut, MD, Yves d’Udekem, MD, PhD










