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Sneak Peek with Teddy Helps Kids (and Parents) Prep for Surgery
The surgery
center at St. Luke's Hospital recently began offering pediatric
pre-op tours to help demystify the surgery experience and relieve
the fear and anxiety parents and children feel when youngsters
must undergo surgery.
Staff from throughout the center joined to develop "A Surgical Peek with Teddy" to help families better cope with a child's surgery.
"Parents can be more anxious than the children," said Sandy Zager, LPN, Staff Nurse. "The tour gives them an opportunity to think about what's going to happen and form questions. They have an opportunity to ask questions specific to their child's surgery, and we can help identify special issues that may arise and troubleshoot them ahead of time. Families are referred to the tour through physician's offices.
During the tour, visitors learn that staff members wear special clothing (blue scrub suits) to help keep the environment sterile and how to get into a patient gown and booties. There are demonstrations on how vital signs are taken, how the operating table and light work and what the warm blankets and safety strap is for. There are explanations about what will happen before the child goes to sleep and after a child wakes up. Children older than age 6 see a demonstration on how an intravenous is set up. Children's teddy bears or other favorite stuffed animals that might have "injuries" are bandaged.
"Everything
we do is designed to take the uncertainty out of the experience,"
said Barbara Silva, RN, Clinical Manager of the Recovery Center
at St. Luke's. "We want parents and children to know what
is going to happen, what things and people will look like and
maybe even recognize some faces on the day of surgery."
Tours are broken up into small groups so that everyone has a chance to see everything and ask questions. About 10 staff members volunteer their time on tour nights to lead groups, provide demonstrations and answer questions. Children receive a gift bag containing a surgical mask, a coloring book, stickers and other fun items while parents are provided with a pamphlet of useful information regarding their children's surgery.
"A Surgical Peek with Teddy" has its roots in another pediatric surgical tour program, which began in 1993. "We began by inviting the second grade classes from the New Bedford school system to take a tour during Perioperative Nurses' Week in November," Silva said.
That program expanded to become Teddy Bear Week, during which as many as 4,000 school children from the school systems of nearby towns would tour the facility. However, the high volume of surgical cases and staffing challenges made it impossible to continue the program at that level.
"But we still knew we needed to do something for the parents and the children that would help decrease their anxiety," Silva said.
Tours take place on the last Wednesday of each month. Parents with children scheduled for surgery at St. Luke's should contact their surgeons regarding the tour.
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