Patient experience spotlight: Dr. Meredith Broberg

Dr. Meredith Broberg receives her award from CEO Chris Gessner.

Each month, Akron Children’s recognizes an employee for providing an excellent patient experience. Our most recent honoree is Dr. Meredith Broberg, critical care provider in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). She recently received this feedback from a grateful family:

Dr. Meredith Broberg sat down with us about a study that everyone else kindly said no to…but she listened to us, researched it. Then today on her day off, she called us! She called us to go over her findings and tell us you are right. This actually wouldn’t have been an issue, and although we don’t see a ton of patients like (patient’s) case, there are a few here or there we can actually look at implementing this. I mean not only is she a great physician, but she’s an incredible human. After all of these years in the hospitals when you find someone who sticks out like that, you want them to really be appreciated.  

How long have you worked at Akron Children’s? What drew you to wanting to work in pediatric care?

I started here this summer, so it’s been about 6 months. I was trained in internal medicine and pediatrics and then ultimately specialized in pediatric medicine. The PICU has the complexity of internal medicine, and I like being able to work with families and children. Children, and their ability to heal and get better, are remarkable.

What do you like best about caring for patients in a critical care setting?

I really like the medicine. It makes you think and is challenging. It is also a time where you can support families who are experiencing their worst day. I find it rewarding to work with those families, and moreover to see the patients get better.

How did you feel when you read the recognition from this family?

I was grateful, and I was very glad that I was able to offer something helpful and some sort of peace throughout their stay.

The writer noted how you took time on your day off to call them and discuss their questions and your findings. What made you decide to research this study when others did not?

I felt like it was my responsibility if they came to me with something that could potentially help their child, to review it. So, I did, and I think it was an interesting point. They brought this study to me on a night shift, and I was unable to discuss it in detail during the shift, so I called them the next day. I wanted them to know that I had investigated it and to make sure that they understood my assessment of what they brought to me.

What does family-centered care mean to you?

Family-centered care is the recognition that patients aren’t just in a bubble, that they are surrounded by others and that other people may be feeling the illness just as much. I tell the parents and families that come into the ICU that they are a part of our team. They know the patient better than I do, so they can offer a lot of insight on ways that we can make the patient comfortable and how we can best treat the patient, which is helpful.

Having a child with critical illness can lead to anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. We have a responsibility to the families and their child to help guide them through the hospitalization and the illness. Being in the ICU is my every day, but I recognize that for most of the families it is foreign and often overwhelming and a time when they have no control. I think it is important to help support them through the illness by addressing their anxieties, sharing test results and including them in their child’s care.