Rethinking Empathy in Pediatric Care: What Small Moments Mean for Families and Clinicians

Why Pediatric Patient Experience Starts with Human Moments 

Pediatric care often moves fast. Teams make decisions in seconds, and clinical skill drives outcomes.  

Yet families remember something else. They remember how care felt. 

A pause. A tone of voice. A small comment that shows that someone was paying attention. These moments shape trust in pediatric healthcare more than any checklist. 

Leslie Ridall, D.O., Medical Director of Patient-Family Experience at Children’s Hospital Colorado, has seen this from every side. She works as a pediatric critical care physician. She has also been a patient herself, and the parent of a critically ill child. That experience changed how she understands care. 

“This is not a talk about medicine,” Ridall said at NRC Health’s Pediatric Collaborative. “It’s what healthcare feels like when you’re on the other side.”  

Her story highlights a central truth in pediatric patient experience: care is not only clinical. It’s emotional, personal, and shaped by each interaction. 

Key Takeaways 

• Small moments shape trust more than clinical details 
• Trauma changes how families process information 
• Clear and well-timed communication improves understanding 
• Family realities influence medical decisions 
• Clinicians need support to sustain empathy 

Families rarely experience care in a calm state. They are often tired, afraid, and unsure of what will happen next. 

Ridall described sitting in a hospital room, exhausted and overwhelmed, trying to understand her child’s future. She looked up and saw a simple note on a whiteboard: “Luke saw his first lunar eclipse.”  

At the time, it felt small. But years later, she still remembers it. 

That moment didn’t change a diagnosis or a treatment plan. It changed her experience. It gave her child a sense of normal life during a crisis. 

This is the gap in pediatric healthcare: teams focus on treatment, while families experience everything around it. 

Trauma Changes How People Hear and Understand Care 

One of the strongest themes in Ridall’s experience is how trauma affects understanding. 

During her child’s hospitalization, she struggled to process information. She described the experience as blurred and fragmented, like being underwater. Even with her medical training, she couldn’t easily absorb what clinicians were saying. 

“We often assume that when someone nods or smiles, they understand,” she said. “But trauma really changes how our brain works.”  

This has clear implications for pediatric patient experience. Clear communication alone is not enough. Families must feel safe before they can process information. 

Families don’t remember every detail of a hospital stay. They remember how they felt in key moments. 

Ridall described how small actions changed her experience. Nurses comforted her child when she couldn’t be there. Staff acknowledged personal milestones. These actions built trust and reduced fear. 

“It wasn’t a medical moment that mattered,” she said. “But it changed my entire experience.” 

These moments aren’t driven by policy. They come from individual behavior. 

A nurse who pauses. A clinician who sits down with the family. A note that captures something personal. These actions take little time—but they leave a lasting impact. 

Communication in Pediatric Care Must Match the Moment 

Communication is a core part of pediatric healthcare. But it doesn’t work the same way in every situation. 

Ridall’s experience showed how timing affects understanding. After her child’s MRI, she asked to wait for the results until morning. A clinician shared them with her earlier, which caused her distress. 

“Timing is not just a courtesy,” she said. “It’s part of care.”  

She also described the need for guidance over choice during crisis. When a specialist asked her to choose a treatment, she felt overwhelmed. 

“I didn’t want to choose,” she said. “I wanted to know what she would tell her own family.”  

This highlights a key point. Families need different communication at different times. Sometimes they need information; at others they need direction. 

Medical decisions don’t exist in isolation. Families must fit care plans into their daily life. 

Ridall explained how decisions about feeding tubes or treatment plans connect to work, childcare, and finances—but these realities rarely appear in clinical notes. 

“Our lives don’t fit in this pretty EMR,” she said. 

If care plans ignore these factors, families struggle to follow them. This is where pediatric patient experience and outcomes connect. Practical barriers shape adherence and long-term results. 

How Personal Experience Changes Clinicians 

Ridall’s experience changed how she practices medicine. It made her more aware of how patients process care. It also made her work harder. 

“I listen differently,” she said. “But it’s made the work heavier.”  

She added a clear statement about the emotional cost of the work, saying, “Empathy does have a cost.”  

Clinicians bring their own experiences into care. Some carry personal trauma, while others face stress or burnout. In any case, healthcare systems must support staff as they support families.

Ridall identified a few specific actions that improve care in high-stress situations: 

• Ask permission before sharing information. Families may not be ready to hear details. 
• Adjust timing. Some conversations can wait. 
• Use fewer words. Clarity matters more than volume. 
• Acknowledge emotion. Statements like “this is a lot” or “this isn’t fair” can validate feelings. 
• Sit instead of standing. Being at eye level reduces stress. 
• Use the child’s name. Personal details matter. 

These actions are simple, but they go a long way toward creating a stronger connection. 

Why Healthcare Culture Shapes Every Interaction 

Rather than coming from one role, patient experience  reflects the entire system. 

Ridall emphasized that every encounter shapes experience. This includes clinical care, front-desk interactions, and communication across teams. 

“These moments don’t just happen at the bedside,” she said. “They’re shaped by the systems and cultures we create.” 

This means that leaders influence experience through staffing, training, and expectations, and consistent behavior across teams builds trust. 

The Lasting Impact of Pediatric Care Experiences 

Families carry these experiences long after discharge. They remember how they were treated during the hardest moments of their lives. 

Ridall highlighted how even one negative interaction can outweigh several positive ones. She noted that it may take many positive experiences to outweigh a single negative one in healthcare.  

A brief moment of care can stay with a family for years—which makes each and every interaction important. 

Pediatric healthcare depends on clinical skill. It also depends on human connection, established at the key moments families often remember for years to come. 

Recognizing this, Ridall closed with a clear message for care teams: each person has the ability to change the experience. 

“Healing happens through timing, presence, and small, intentional moments,” she said. 

That idea defines pediatric patient experience, which is built through daily actions that show attention, respect, and care. Because one moment can shape trust, reduce fear—and stay with a family for life.