Family-centered care coordination for children with special needs across multiple settings

Care coordination is a process that involves assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, education, monitoring, support, and advocacy. Pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) are well positioned to coordinate care but may not be well educated about potential conflicts of interest in balancing cost- containment constraints with obtaining maximum quality and quantity of care for children and families with complex needs. The philosophy of family-centered care is embodied in some care coordination models and absent in others. PNPs who aim to support families of children with special health care needs need to understand the complexity of interacting with multiple care coordination models across health and educational settings. PNPs may act as change agents to infuse family-centered care principles into existing and future care coordination models.