As a nurse in her early 20s, working in an ICU unit, Linda Del Vecchio-Gilbert heard a noise. She said it wasn’t alarming, just a bit annoying. She reached out to a fellow nurse and was surprised to learn the noises were coming from a young, dying boy.

Linda asked what could be done to help, to ease the transition, and was astonished when told that at that point there wasn’t much that could be done.

She didn’t know the boy’s name, never saw his face, and yet, years later, she can still hear those noises.

Even at the time as she went to her own apartment, it struck her that those parents would have to return home having lost their child.

“If I can still remember those noises, what about his parents?” Linda said.

She pledged then that there would always be something to do, anything to help reduce the pain and suffering of those children battling complex and chronic conditions, as well as their families.

Now, as a pediatric nurse practitioner, she has opened Magnolia Pediatrics, her own practice in Cranston, focusing on palliative care for those with complex chronic conditions, providing “compassionate care for children.”

Linda always knew she wanted to care for children, and attended the University of Rhode Island for her undergraduate degree before going to work for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. She then received her master’s in nursing at Emory University, specializing in pediatric care, and went on to work at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She moved to Boston Children’s Hospital for a while before returning to Rhode Island and working at Hasbro’s Children’s Hospital, where she helped develop the palliative care program.

She received her doctorate from Simmons College, then served as a consulting pediatric nurse practitioner in palliative and end-of-life care at Notre Dame Pediatric Palliative Program in Worcester.

She currently teaches as an associative professor at both New England Institute of Technology and Simmons College.

In September, she began to wonder why she was traveling to offer her services in Massachusetts when there is an entire community of children and families in Rhode Island in need of palliative care services.

With support from her husband Adam Gilbert, as well as family and friends, Linda began renting her current space at 1255 Oaklawn Ave. in Cranston in November. With a quick overhaul on the space, she was able to open just before the New Year.

Palliative care is a subspecialty of medicine focusing on those patients with serious and complicated conditions in an effort to relieve symptoms due to said illness.

Linda said palliative care, especially when it comes to children, is not popular because there isn’t enough information out there. People don’t like to think of children suffering or being terminal, and tend to associate palliative care with only hospice or end-of-life care, she said.

But she said palliative care does not necessarily mean every patient is terminal – rather, it strives to increase the quality of life for every patient.

“We look at the whole child, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically,” she said. “We are child- and family-centered. How does their particular condition affect their lives and the lives of their families? What is their suffering, and how can we address it? What do we do when the condition begins to progress?”

Examples of services include advocacy, pain management, house visits, group art, music, and pet therapy, as well as services that can transition into end-of-life care.

Already, she has had two consultations and has several others lined up for the coming weeks.

Walking into the office feels more like walking into someone’s apartment, with a playroom brightly painted in greens and blues, a consulting room with large, plush chairs. Of course, Linda’s business partner, Ruby Magnolia, a 4-1/2-year-old schnoodle trained in pet therapy, greets you at the door.

Because the majority of her patients will have spent countless hours in doctors’ offices or hospitals, she wants to ensure her practice is warm, and comforting, without exam tables or anything invasive.

Magnolia flowers are known as being tough, which is exactly why Linda felt it would be an appropriate name for her practice.

“My patients are the toughest magnolias, they keep fighting everyday. And we have to respect them as such. They all have this dignity, this inner joy and happiness,” she said.

Although she doesn’t replace a primary care physician, this one-woman show becomes part of a child’s team, collaborating with the other doctors to see the best results for a child. Rather than 15 minutes a pediatrician may have, Linda has an hour to sit with a patient and their family – time to establish a relationship and get to know their goals and hopes while battling any chronic, complex condition.

Linda believes her practice, run as an independent nurse practitioner, is unique to Rhode Island. She hopes with so many children in need of palliative care, but not receiving it, Magnolia Pediatrics will offer critical services to the community.

“I just hope I can have an impact on these families’ lives,” she said. “It’s all been a dream, and hopefully this way children and their families suffer a little less.”

For more information on Magnolia Pediatrics, visit magnoliapediatricsri.com, email info@magnoliapediatricsri.com, or call the offices at 401-439-9935.

Magnolia Pediatrics will host an open house Feb. 3 starting at 6 p.m. with children’s activities.

The offices are located at 1255 Oaklawn Ave. in Cranston.