Program provides sustenance, support for parents of hospitalized children

Denine Baxter, RN, Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital director of Inpatient Services, has seen it countless times: “Parents are so worried about caring for their child, they put self-care on the back burner.”

That self-care includes eating regular meals. In fact, some parents forget to eat at all, Baxter said.

About a year ago, she was discussing the topic with Dean Caruso, Yale New Haven Hospital vice president of Support Services and Sustainability. Their conversation yielded an idea: A “Parents Night Out” that would provide a free, chef-prepared meal to parents of hospitalized children. The meal would be served at YNHCH, near the inpatient units, so parents could stay close to their children.

Over the next few months, YNHCH inpatient leaders and staff worked with Food and Nutrition and Sodexo Healthcare, YNHH’s food services vendor, to develop the program. Baxter applied for and received a generous grant from the Friends of Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, a volunteer organization that helps improve the health and well-being of pediatric patients and their families by supporting clinical care, education and outreach.

For the first Parents Night Out last November, Food and Nutrition and Sodexo staff transformed a YNHCH conference room into an elegant restaurant, complete with lighting, flowers and fancy table linens. Menus (in English and Spanish) included different options for the three-course meal, and parents could dine at the conference room “restaurant” or have volunteers or staff members deliver meals to their children’s hospital room.

YNHCH has held five additional Parents Night Out programs since, with participation ranging from 32 to 70 parents. Baxter said parents’ feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with comments such as “Loved everything, wonderful surprise!” and “Appreciated the effort to provide a special meal.”

“It has been a pleasure collaborating with the teams from the Children’s Hospital and Food and Nutrition to bring this concept to life,” Caruso said.

Baxter is seeking grant funds to continue the program.

"At the Children’s Hospital, you’re not just taking care of the child, you’re taking care of the family,” Baxter said. “We’ve always been very focused on supporting families at the bedside, and this is one more way we can help parents help their children.”