Family Advisory Council, Lake Nona

At Nemours, “family-centered care” means putting your child and family first in everything we do. To help us make meaningful improvements for all of the children we see and their families, we rely on our family advisory councils to help create new services, streamline our processes, and even weigh in on who we hire and how to build a better place to care for children.

ON THIS PAGE:

About Our Family Advisory Council

Made up of parents, many who have children with chronic or complex health issues, the Family Advisory Council (FAC) provides insight on what families want most, such as care that keeps family at the center of everything we do — through their feedback, recommendations about processes, participation through various hospital committees and more.

Advising

  • Assist in planning, evaluating, and implementing policies, programs and services
  • Offer trusted advice and resources to hospital associates and leaders
  • Advise on educational materials for children and families

Empowering

  • Provide information and education to kids and families
  • Assist in staff education and professional development
  • Encourage family involvement in hospital committees, task forces and work groups

Advocating

  • Promote the diverse needs of families caring for children with chronic or complex medical conditions
  • Engage the community as active, positive hospital ambassadors

What We Do

Since 2005, the Family Advisory Council has been a partner in developing and enhancing Nemours Children's Hospital, Florida's family-centered care. We play key roles advocating, advising and educating our staff and families on a variety of issues. 

Accomplishments

Some of our group’s most prominent projects were:

  • Helping to design many family-friendly features for the hospital to create a comfortable “home away from home” for our patients and families, including new room amenities, use of preferred names, expanded dietary options, and much more
  • Giving input to create the DIVA (difficult IV access) Team, a specialized team of clinicians who use ultrasound imaging to create a safer, more comfortable IV process for children whose veins are difficult to find

Nemours Family Advisory Council

Learn more about what we do and how you can be a part of it.

Action is sometimes the best medicine for coping with your child’s diagnosis. If you are interested in improving the care and experience of all children and families at Nemours, we invite you to explore more about the FAC by filling out the FAC membership form.

What Involvement Looks Like

To determine if participation in the FAC is the right fit for you, please consider the following commitments members make:

  • Completing a new member orientation
  • Serving a 2-year membership term
  • Regularly attending meetings
  • Voluntarily participating in activities or projects
  • Communicating and providing feedback in a manner that respects different and unique perspectives
  • Represent the voice of all children and families at Nemours Children’s Health

FAC members meet virtually or in-person at Nemours Children's Hospital, Florida monthly on every second Tuesday from 6:30–7:30 p.m. Please note this time may be subject to change.

If you are interested in joining the council, please complete the FAC application.

If you have questions or are curious about what we do, feel free to e-mail us at: familyadvisorycouncil@nemours.org.