Visiting Child Life Scholarship Awarded by: Child Life Council with a grant from the Walt Disney Company Submitted by: Kathleen Grobbel, CTRS, CCLS 1/25/2014 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 1 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Visiting Child Life Specialist Scholarship As the grateful recipient of the Child Life Council’s Visiting Child Life Scholarship, I was able to visit four outstanding Child Life programs in Florida through a grant from the Disney Corporation. The visits were designed to encourage the development of innovative play programs. My personal goals included: • • • • Building new play programs at Beaumont Children’s Hospital Discovering how other hospitals maintain a balance between balance between developmental play, special events and procedural support Learn about implementing new Child Life programs in NICU Understand how to best provide services for the children of adult patients. Currently, Beaumont does not have funding for NICU and adult services but both areas are considered potential growth areas for our Child Life Department. I have included in this report, descriptions of my visits along with lessons learned along the way. At the end of each report, I will detail specific changes that I will introduce to Beaumont Children’s Hospital and to the Beaumont Child Life department. The following itinerary describes my journey: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 Florida Hospital for Children Orlando, FL Wednesday, January 22, 2014 Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital Orlando, FL Thursday, January 23, 2014 All Children’s Hospital St. Petersburg, FL Friday, January 24, 2014 St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital Tampa, FL 1 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 2 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Day 1 Florida Hospital for Children, Orlando, FL I was welcomed to the hospital with a huge smile and hug from Chantelle Bennett, Manager of Child Life Services. This warm welcome and my wonder at the magical lobby playroom sponsored by Disney immediately put me at ease. The Child Life Department at Florida Hospital for Children consists of 17 staff members, including 15 Certified Child Life Specialists, an administrative specialist, and a Special Events and Volunteer coordinator. The department reports to the Director of Patient Experience, Tracy Woods, who is a Certified Child Life Specialist. It is nice to see the understanding that Tracy has about the benefits of play programs as a way to enhance the patient experience. Florida Hospital for Children opened in 1908. The hospital partnered with the Disney Corporation and opened the Walt Disney Pavilion in 2007. All employees are trained at the Disney Pavilion in the service standards required by all Disney employees. It is easy to see this, as every person I came in contact with was professional, helpful and friendly. There are 185 Pediatric beds. The lobby and parking are shared with the adult hospital, but the Children’s Hospital has its own portion of the building, called the Walt Disney Pavilion. All patient rooms are private and in addition to the lobby playroom there are two other playrooms. The entrance playroom welcomes families into the children’s hospital with a Disney themed playground. Life sized characters invite children to play with the interactive lighting features. There are Disney movies playing at all times and the children can rest on adorable bear stools and log cabin styled rocking chairs. Radiology- child friendly interventions The morning was spent shadowing Kari Webb, in the Radiology department. The Radiology Child Life position started a year ago, so is relatively new. Kari receives consults from nursing and physicians but also checks schedules each morning to see when children are scheduled for MRIs, CT scans and Nuclear Medicine studies. Her assessment is filled out on a multidisciplinary form along with nursing and anesthesia. Child Life Specialists carry child friendly backpacks filled with toys and distraction tools. I was able to witness the effectiveness of the backpacks first hand as Kari introduced herself to a child in the waiting area. The child was quiet, but immediately intrigued by Kari’s Hello Kitty Backpack. Rapport building came easily as Kari allowed the child to dig in and play with the toys. Kari let the child choose her activities, so we played Uno together while she discovered the child’s preferences for her upcoming IV 2 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 3 Visiting Child Life Scholarship start. Sharing the child’s choices with the nurse prior to the procedure helped make it a comfortable experience. Making children less fearful before a radiology procedure is often done through offering play choices. Kari lets each child choose their favorite scent for their anesthesia mask. She also lets them draw pictures on the anesthesia balloon so when it expands, the child can see his/her artwork. Surgery- team building and medical play I followed my visit to Radiology with a trip to the surgical suite. I was excited to meet with Jessie Wendt, CCLS. Our Beaumont Surgery Child Life program is only 2 years old and we have experienced many challenges introducing play, preparation and support to this area filled with seasoned surgical nurses. One of my goals for visiting this area was to learn how she was able to become ingrained as part of the team. Jessie was able to share many insights about team building and the use of play prior to surgery. Jessie learned through her experience that the most important way to become part of the team is to get to know each employee personally. She builds personal relationships with her team and understands their preferences during pre-surgical procedures. For example, some physicians and nurses prefer that Jessie stays in the room during their description of the upcoming surgery while others prefer that she step out temporarily. Knowing and respecting these differences in this fast paced environment let the team know that she is respectful of their time with the patient. Nursing demonstrated high regard for Child Life and insisted that I see the pool noodles Jessie uses to explain the IV procedure! The children love discovering this fun and familiar item used as a unique educational tool. Whenever possible, Jessie meets children for rapport building in the waiting room which is filled with playful activities including an activity of the week. Jessie uses blank cloth dolls for medical play. She has learned to develop relationships with medical supply representatives through her career and often, they give her expired equipment such as GT and Port kits for use during her medical play sessions. Children of Adult patient Consults- assisting with bereavement Another valuable stop during my day was a visit with Nan Whitehead. Nan is the first Child Life Specialist to cover adult areas of the hospital. She receives consults from nursing, physicians and social work. Her patients are adults experiencing critical care issues or end of life who have children. Nan takes special care in providing services to help children cope during this difficult time. She first completes an intake form with information about the patient, family, their ages, religious preferences, and much more. She asks the families to complete a confidentiality disclosure form which then allows her to speak with the school. Often Nan finds that the school is unaware of the family crisis. Her conversation with them can lead to helpful academic adjustments such as temporary 504s and decrease homework until the crisis passes. This is a valuable link for the family and can make a difference in how the children cope. 3 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 4 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Nan started the program with in services and small meetings with the multidisciplinary team explaining Child Life in the adult world. She keeps a list of all of the nurse managers and meets occasionally for refreshers. Her work hours are typically 12:00 pm – 8:30 pm. This ensures that she is available to meet with children after school hours. When a family is facing a death and dying situation, Nan allows the children choices for legacy building activities. Children choose paper and paint colors and decide on which music to play during their sessions. Nan helps children complete keepsake prints of their parents hand and cuts a beautiful lock of hair tied with a ribbon of their choice. Disney recordable storybooks are a beautiful way to create parent keepsakes. All items are packaged beautifully along with grief resource materials. Nan also uses her Ipad to help prepare children for a visit with their critically ill parent. She takes photos of each piece of equipment and explains how it is helping. She also takes a photo of the parent, after ensuring that there is a colorful blanket and pillowcase to decrease the medical environment. Nan uses “I wonder…” statements to encourage conversation and to discover the child’s preferences for visiting. Charting is completed on the interdisciplinary plan of care and includes medical stressors, interventions, types of coping, education provided responses/barriers to interventions. It is easy to see how a Child Life Specialist can have extreme value in the adult world. Assisting children with a difficult time through age appropriate activities can build strong coping skills for life. This visit with Nan gave me renewed determination to build a program for the children of adult patients. NICU- Supporting families Monika Valierre shared insights on her work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Her unit has 80 beds and she works 8:00 am – 4:30 pm. Her main goals for Child Life in the NICU are: • • • Sibling support Parent support Infant development Monika offers parent support groups twice monthly in the evenings along with the Social Worker. This is a relaxed environment with refreshments and support. The group also includes at least one parent volunteer who is typically the parent of an NICU graduate. The NICU is filled with Cuddlers, volunteers available to hold the babies when parents are not available. Monica is in charge of orienting, training, scheduling and supervising 50 volunteers. As we traveled through the NICU, we could see the work that Monika does with the infants and their parents. She keeps detailed track of infant ages and milestones and help families track these milestones with keepsakes such as photos and footprints. Her favorite soothing tool is a small, portable sound machine with heartbeat and music sounds called mybaby sound machine. 4 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 5 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Emergency Department, a healing environment The new Emergency Department at Florida Hospital for children was designed using color, light and interactive environments for healing. Children in every room can choose their own mural projected onto the wall as well as the color of their ceiling lights. Private rooms add to the quiet atmosphere. Child Life is consulted to prepare children for IV starts and other medical procedures using medical play. An anxious child was introduced to the IV procedure by Specialist, Nicole Baxa. Using a bear and real medical equipment, the child began to feel more comfortable with what to expect from the upcoming procedure. A “mobile playroom” is a colorful cart filled with toys and crafts that are easily accessible for patients and staff. Each room has its own bathroom for privacy, and the waiting area windows face a beautiful lake. Volunteers play with children in waiting rooms and play at the bedside upon referral from Child Life Specialists. There are two Specialists who work 4-10 hour days, providing 7 day a week coverage for the Emergency Center Department. Management, First Cause No harm After a fun day of shadowing, I was able to meet with Chantelle at the end of the day to discuss administrative and supervisory topics when developing play programs. Chantelle described her approach with other managers in the hospital in terms of teamwork. She works hard to get managers to understand that Child Life’s main priority is to cause no harm, physically and emotionally. Florida Hospital for Children provides Atraumatic Training modules for every employee who may come in contact with a Pediatric patient. Training is done upon hiring and annually. Chantelle meets every other month with Nurse Managers from departments that have Child Life programs and discusses improvements and issues. This idea is definitely one that I would like to implement as we build our program. Procedural positioning is an effort that has had great success at Florida Hospital for Children. Their standard of care is that children are not restrained during procedures. There are no “old school” papoose holds at the hospital and all employees understand the importance of comfort positions. This is a challenge Beaumont is facing. Although many departments are beginning to understand the importance of comfort positioning, there are still departments and physicians who use restraining and laying children down. The effort to change the Beaumont culture is underway, and with Chantelle’s ideas and knowledge, I have more tools to face this challenge. The administrative team at Florida Hospital for children uses Studer Training as a way to classify employees into high, medium and low performers. Low performers do not stay employed and medium performers receive extra training. The Florida Hospital for Children, Child Life Department uses an intense system of interviewing candidates for new Child Life positions. The top 3 or 4 candidates spend an entire day with the team. They demonstrate their play skills with children in waiting rooms. 5 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 6 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Donations are handled by one full time Child Life Specialist. There is also a full time Volunteer and Special Events coordinator. Changes for Beaumont Children’s Hospital As a result of my visit to Florida Hospital for Children, I will make the following changes: • • • • • • • • • • • • Purchase or have staff make bags or backpacks that are child-friendly for easy rapport building and playfulness Introduce Surgical area to a playful activity of the week Encourage Child Life team to meet children in waiting rooms whenever possible Encourage the use of flavors for anesthesia masks Bring interactive and playful environmental suggestions to meetings when discussing Beaumont’s new Pediatric Emergency Department Investigate funding for a Child Life Specialist for children of adult patients and create prepackaged kits that are ready for the current team when consulted Develop sign that indicates patient rooms that would benefit from volunteer play Share playful and informative whiteboard style with Pediatric Administration Purchase mybaby sound machines for NICU and infants on Pediatrics Create mobile playroom for areas without play materials Share design ideas with Interior decorating department at Beaumont Develop slide show for Child Life team, BCH and Emergency Center planning committee 6 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 7 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Day 2 Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, FL Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando Florida is one of eight hospitals in the Orlando Health System. There are 158 Pediatric beds not including NICU. Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children opened in 1989 on the famous golfer’s birthday. In 2006, a new women’s hospital opened across the street. Named after the legendary golfer’s wife, the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies houses the 122 bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The Child Life Department is titled Child Life, Music and the Arts, which is a perfect description for this creative play program. The department works closely with Volunteer Services and shares a secretary. I was welcomed by Shari Mosley, Director of Child Life and Linda Jones, Supervisor of Child Life. Linda oversees the clinical staff and students. We spent some time in the morning touring the hospital and discussing programs and special events unique to Arnold Palmer. The hospital lobby is a spectacular child friendly space. Its ceiling rises at least four stories and everywhere your eye lands, you find surprises for children. Upon it’s opening, Disney built the beautiful replica of Cinderella’s Castle. Children play in it, using their imaginations and watch Disney movies. Recently, Disney returned to create an even more playful environment to the hospital lobby. They added Mickey and Minnie life sized statues, an incredible three story beanstalk, and a huge hot air balloon floating in the air with Donald Duck smiling down. Child Life specialists use the area for their special hospital wide events. They also use the lobby as an enticement for children who need to walk more. They travel to the lobby for pretend play and fun games of I Spy. “Can you find Tinkerbelle?” is a favorite for children of all ages! Just outside of the hospital lobby, Children’s Miracle Network provided support to build a huge wheelchair accessible wooden ship complete with a steering wheel and sails. Children can play with musical alligators and turtles, creating chime sounds that travel even to the patient rooms! Volunteer Services manages large community organizations interested in doing service projects. They invite these organizations to work on the landscaping, clean wagons, Christmas carol and other nonpatient related jobs. Volunteer Services also assists with donations. Playroom fun The Child Life Department is responsible for 6 playrooms and one outpatient playroom. There are 11.6 FTEs/Child Life Specialists. Within the department is a subset of Specialists that are responsible for entertainment and celebrity visits. Children receive playroom passes from the nursing staff and are able to travel to each open playroom for structured activities. 7 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 8 Visiting Child Life Scholarship During my visit, a number of children participated in a fun shrink dink activity. Children were engaged and happy with their final projects. During the group, Specialists also offered Wii games for an interested child. The music contributed to a playful atmosphere and children were welcomed warmly and introduced to each other for socialization. In addition to allowing me to participate in the playroom activities, each member of the Child Life Department shared copies of their favorite and most creative play activities. I can’t wait to try out the many new and creative play activities. Hematology/Oncology, creative activities After the playroom activity, I was able to meet with the Hematology/Oncology Child Life Specialist, Lauren Hamed. This was interesting because I am currently seeking to fund a position for our own Oncology clinic. Lauren described her work with children and families experiencing cancer treatment. She had many great activity ideas and instructions including a duct tape bag, rainbow looms, medical tape art and unique construction paper crafts. Her playful manner and energy was contagious. Another unique and playful idea is a portable projector cube that projects games onto the floor. Lauren explained that many of the siblings like to play with it when their brother or sister is undergoing chemotherapy treatments. This projector looks like it could have many uses including encouraging patients to walk and move post-surgery. Pediatric Intensive Care, Sibling play and support After the Hematology/Oncology clinic, I visited the Pediatric Intensive Care unit for a tour. The PICU is a large, newly remodeled unit with 17 patient beds. Child Life works with siblings, preparing them for visits to their brother or sister. Using medical play dolls and real equipment, the Child Life Specialists introduces the equipment that siblings will encounter on a visit to the PICU. This individualized play helps children feel more comfortable with visiting. Child Life also helps siblings decorate the patient room and create “All about me” posters for their brother or sister. This provides siblings with a way to feel needed and useful. Music Therapy, a Highlight of my visit I also spent time with the Music Therapist, Holly Solis and the Child Life Specialist in the Winnie Palmer Hospital. The Music Therapist is a very talented person with terrific activity ideas and works within the Child Life department to meet the many needs of children in the NICU and in the main hospital. One of the highlights of the entire trip was participating in a brand new program led by Child Life and Music Therapy in the NICU. Older infants who have spent their entire lives in the hospital gather with their parents, nurses, therapists and enjoy songs and socialization. These babies demonstrated a high interest in looking at the other babies, and their parents enjoyed clapping hands and singing along to popular baby songs. It was obvious from this group that there is an important place for both Child Life Services and Music Therapy in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. 8 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 9 Visiting Child Life Scholarship In addition to working with the babies, the Music Therapist also works with siblings and patients in the ICU, Oncology and on the general pediatric units. Activities done with music therapy include creating music videos and help with song writing. A touching example of the unique possibilities of music therapy was a young teen writing a song for his sister in the ICU. Another example from Music Therapy became a hospital wide effort. A young child was in the hospital for a very long time and was struggling emotionally with all of the things he was missing. Music Therapy and Child Life teamed up to create Flat Stanley, based on the popular children’s book. Flat Stanley was copied and sent with many employees of the hospital. People took photos of Flat Stanley wherever they went and music therapy created a one of a kind virtual vacation for the patient. This experience helped the child tremendously and created a common purpose for members of the health care team. After visiting the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and seeing the benefits of play and music, I have become more determined than ever to find funding sources for music therapy at Beaumont. Special Events, large playful activities Child Life offers many popular Special Events including: • • • • • • • • Pet Therapy, twice weekly Disney character visits, Mickey, Chip n Dale, etc. Animal Kingdom program, visits with live animals, owls, eagles, skunks and more bring smiles and delight from patients and families. Pastry Parties-cupcake decorating with a local pastry shop Teddy Bear Clinics for the community Legoland visits and demonstrations-characters and Lego activities Equine Therapy-Miniature horse visits Olympics- Silly activities such as cheese puff toss Large scaled entertaining activities, a playful staff and whimsical environment help create a state of the art child friendly atmosphere at Arnold Palmer. Changes for Beaumont Children’s Hospital As a result of my visit to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, I will make the following changes: • • • • Renewed determination to fund a Music Therapy program Encourage consults for developmental play in our NICU Plan and implement the Beaumont Olympics Investigate creation of a Snoezelen Cart for patients with sensory needs 9 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 10 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Day 3 All Children’s Hospital, St. Petersburg, FL My visit to All Children’s Hospital started on a beautiful, sunny morning so I was able to see how the huge lobby prism caught the sunlight and sparkled as soon as I entered the hospital. The beautiful hospital was built in 2012 and provides stunning views from all of the windows to the downtown and to the bay. It is obvious from the moment you enter that much care and thought was put into decorating the hospital in a beach inspired, child friendly way. Colors are soft yet bright and ocean themes follow you as you travel on each floor. There are 259 Pediatric beds. Ninety seven of those are Neonatal Intensive Care Unit beds. There is a director of Child Life Services who is also in charge of Social Work and Pastoral Care. Child Life has their own secretary as well as a clinical coordinator, Holly Ott. Holly is responsible for clinical supervision of the staff (14 Certified Child Life Specialists) as well as interns and practicum students. Last season, there were over 50 applicants for the internship slot. The Child Life practicum program is 180 hours and there are three slots for each season. Currently there is no Child Life Specialist for the NICU, but the department would eventually like to have 2.5 FTEs for this area. Holly Ott and the team cover some consults in the NICU. There are 14 Child Life Specialists, a music therapist and an Academics coordinator. There is one Child Life Aide position, a Volunteer coordinator, 2 pet therapy coordinators, an NICU certified Music Therapist, and 2 temporary assistant positions that help out during the busy donation season of December. In addition to the main campus, another Child Life Specialist works in the Tampa outpatient facility, is supervised by Holly and is considered part of their team. The team meets every other month for clinical supervision groups. They discuss patient, personal or safety issues. It is a supportive environment designed for sharing and working out difficult topics. This is an interesting idea that I would like to bring to our department at Beaumont. Unique Play Programming All Children’s Hospital recently started a volunteer sponsored yoga program for pain management. It is offered twice a week for 1 ½ hours. The Yoga specialist brings mats and the Child Life Specialists recommend patients for the program. Meditation and guided imagery are worked into the program to help with coping and pain management. The yoga volunteers also offer a discounted yoga session for staff which is well attended. Another interesting program offered is the Creative Care Program. This is a community program funded by a grant. It provides Music, Arts, Voice and Dance activities 5 days per week to inpatient units, dialysis patients. Child Life Specialists make recommendations for this program. All volunteers go through volunteer service training and additional Child Life volunteer training. 10 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 11 Visiting Child Life Scholarship A non-profit organization called Portable Playhouse coordinates local artists across the country to make special visits to children’s hospitals. The artists work with the Child Life team and offer jewelry making activities. All supplies are provided by the organization and children learn sophisticated beading and jewelry making skills, developing a lifelong hobby Special Events, a helping community I enjoyed meeting with Beth to discuss daily group activities and special events. Each day, the auditorium is opened for supervised play sessions. It is a large play space with bean bag chairs, craft tables, children’s furniture and a pool table. Child Life hosts holiday parties and other special events in the auditorium. The snow cone machine and cotton candy machine are recent additions to special events and have become extremely popular and fun for the children and families. Other popular special events include: • • • • • • • • • • Home Depot events building events Miss Florida visits Putting on Smiles- golfing games Princess For a Day T-shirt design day Holiday parties Winterfest- brought in a snow machine and had fake snowball fights Sarasota Ballet- demonstration and teaching ballet moves Homecoming Dance Holiday shopping for families- a 3 day “free” shop designed as a way to honor family traditions by allowing them to shop for their own holiday gifts. Rec to Go, reaching children everywhere In an effort to provide services to children who cannot leave their room due to infectious illnesses or compromised immune systems, the Child Life Department offers live, in-room BINGO through closed circuit television programming. The department is looking forward to expanding this program through a recently acquired large closed circuit television equipment donation complete with a green screen! Children will participate in television programming and games. It was exciting to hear of their plans for this innovative use of technology. Child Life uses a portable cooking cart with children. There is a range on top and pots, pans and utensils stored underneath. The cart is used for special cooking groups, individual cooking and baking activities, end of life care and meals and holiday preparations. Child Life hosted a wonderful Thanksgiving Day meal in the Dialysis unit that children helped prepare, cook and enjoy with their families. The hospital also has a gorgeous garden on the first floor near the cafeteria. Zoe’s Edible Garden, named for the daughter of a local celebrity chef is filled with vegetables and flowers. The chef visits the hospital occasionally to cook in the garden using the freshly grown items. 11 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 12 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Another tool used for children who cannot leave their rooms is the large Playmobile cart for children who benefit from medical play. The cart has a full hospital and emergency vehicle play set complete with doctors, nurses and patients. The cart is popular with children of all ages! Additional Helpful tools • • • Paul’s Project Bags- comfort items for parents, flip flops, blankets, toiletries Chill and Spill Journals-used with longer term patients. Encourages journaling of feelings in a creative way Victorious Bags- gift bags for teens Sensational Kids Program All Children’s Hospital has created a multidisciplinary program to address the needs of young patients with sensory issues. Often patients who are on the autism spectrum have specialized needs and challenges, and this program seeks to address this. Child Life created emergency Sensational Kids kits filled with toys and items that may help distract and occupy children including play dough, shaving cream, and chewy toys. This program was of great interest to me, as we have begun a new program on our Pediatric Unit. Our new Neurologists provide EEG studies for patients experiencing seizures. The patients are often on the autism spectrum and have unique sensory issues that can impact how they cope with the long hours of gluing leads to their scalp. As a result of learning about the sensational kids program, I have already initiated a change in the way Beaumont provides care for our EEG patients. I have begun work on an intake form that will be completed the week before the patient’s scheduled procedure with help from the child’s parents. Information about sensory needs, challenges and interests will be discovered and the Child Life team will plan better for the patients by meeting their sensory and play needs. Bereavement, beautiful keepsakes All Children’s Hospital has a strong program for families experiencing loss. Their Child Life Specialists work with patients and families, using the following tools as appropriate: • • • • • Sesame Street book, When Families Grieve Sculpy Keepsake frame for hand prints Plaster hand casting for older patients using Alginate (dental mold) Memory Bag for siblings, contains a stuffed toy, tips for memory making and supplies Compassion Cart, dietary provides coffee, tea and cookies for families experiencing a loss Sensory Playroom Another highlight of the visit to All Children’s Hospital was experiencing the Sensory Playroom on the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). Child Life Specialist, Loren, receives consults and meets with all of 12 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 13 Visiting Child Life Scholarship the patients in the CICU. Her work at the bedside includes adapting the child’s environment so that play is accessible. In addition, she brings patients to the Sensory Playroom. This wonderful room is designed to sooth and to assist with growth and development. Loren works with patients individually in the room. The lights are low, but there are projectors which provide colors and stars on the walls, along with a bubble tower that changes colors. Music is chosen based on the child’s developmental age and interests. The padded play mat allows children to feel vibrations from the music and to experience soothing. More active children can play games projected on the floor with an interactive projector. Their feet become tools to make changes to the floor pictures and to play games. Fiber optic strands change colors and are fun to play with and there is a sensory wall for children to explore with their sense of touch. I was amazed by this unique playroom and the many uses it could provide for children of all ages and capabilities. Process Improvements, Safety An idea that struck home for me was the department’s process for ensuring safety from handmade and donated items. As a result of patients finding leftover straight pins in a few handmade blankets, the department teamed up with the radiology department for a safety process improvement project. The new system ensures that every handmade donation is sent through the CT scanner, and then sent to the high heat dryers for cleanliness. It is not until these areas have wrapped and stamped the donations that the staff is allowed to give them out. I was very impressed with this safety improvement as we receive popular hand made donations often and this seemed like a wonderful precaution to ensure patient safety. Changes for Beaumont Children’s Hospital As a result of my visit to All Children’s Hospital, I will make the following changes: • • • • • • Develop a Sensory program for children on the autism spectrum; program will include a deeper assessment of needs and interests as well as play equipment specifically for this population of children Work on building an enhanced closed circuit television program Share gardening program and design ideas with Green Team and use ideas for new gardening program Contact metro Detroit Arts programs to explore partnerships Make an effort to schedule shadowing with each Specialist and introduce clinical supervision groups to better support Child Life team Safety Kaizen for handmade blankets 13 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 14 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Day 4 St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, Tampa, FL I enjoyed meeting with Kelly Outlaw, Child Life Supervisor for my last hospital visit. Kelly shared information about her team and the hospital. St. Joseph’s is a large children’s hospital within the Baycare Health System. There are 121 pediatric beds in the Tampa hospital, not including the Neonatal Intensive Care unit. The Child Life Department consists of 13 FTEs. Nine are Certified Child Life Specialists, one is a Music Therapist, one is an Activity Assistant and one is an Activity tech. There are also 2 additional PRN positions that fill in during CCLS vacations and absences for coverage. The Emergency Center has over 46,000 pediatric visits per year and there are two full time Child Life specialists covering it. The Emergency Center has just been renovated with new private rooms and colorful, child friendly décor. Child Life department goals for 2014 include increasing playful activities to an already very playful department. Special events are huge, hospital wide activities and group play activities are offered daily. Alternative Therapies Alternative Therapies are supported through the grant writing arm of the hospital foundation. The Music Therapist and Art Therapist work on referrals form Child Life and other members of the multidisciplinary team. Often they provide group activities in addition to their individual bedside work. Dance Therapy is an exciting program offered by a volunteer certified in dance movement therapy. Massage Therapy is also available for parents and patients. This variety of therapeutic play and coping activities helps the Child Life Department meet the needs of many different patients and families. Safety Store An interesting project in St. Joseph’s medical office building is the Safety Store. The store offers child safety information and brochures as well as discounted safety equipment. Child car seats, helmets and electrical plug covers are a few of the items available. Special Events, hospital wide playfulness St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital prides itself on the many large, and creative special events it hosts. These activities are well received by families and staff alike. It is obvious that a large amount of time is spent on these wonderful special events. In finding a balance between procedural support and special event planning and implementation, Child Life Specialists share responsibilities for all events. 14 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 15 Visiting Child Life Scholarship The Child Life department has also reached out to their Foundation and other departments for support and help in planning the events. I was impressed with these creative events and the teamwork demonstrated by the entire hospital. Another important tool used by the Child Life Department in planning special events and outings is their event binder. Throughout the year, Specialists keep track of all of their longer term patients in a binder. This way, when tickets for events are given out or invitations are sent, these patients and their families are sure to be invited. I was lucky enough to be visiting Tampa during the Gasparillo parade. This local event is celebrated throughout Tamp and includes Pirate ships, parades and parties. I was impressed with the way St. Josephs’ used this local event to create playful experiences within the hospital. Each playroom was offering pirate projects and games and a huge Pirate Parade was planned! Special Events include: • • • • • • • Spring Prom: o Day of Beauty-hair and makeup done the day of event o Dress and tuxedo shop-donated clothes for patients o Red carpet entrance o DJ o Food o Photographer o Videographer Halloween Parade Pirate Parade o A celebration for every hospital department in conjunction with Pirate Gasparillo Day in Tampa o Departments decorate gurneys as floats for the parade o Staff and families dress up as pirates o Crews for the Tampa pirate invasion visit patients and help with the parade o Children vote on best pirate float New Year’s Countdown and Ball Drop Christmas Shop Christmas in July o Huge community event which helps provide toys for hospital Sporting Outings o Buccaneers games o Spring Training o Baseball games I enjoyed all of the shadowing opportunities at St. Joseph’s and learned many useful tools for organizing and planning large special events. 15 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 16 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Changes for Beaumont Children’s Hospital As a result of my visit St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, I make the following changes: • • • • • • • Organize a Halloween parade as an exciting addition to our holiday festivities Maintain a patient binder to better identify long term patients for outings and ticket giveaways Add a photo booth designed by the team to our special events Develop a special event to celebrate a local event, the Woodward Dream Cruise- decorate stretchers as classic cars for a parade and float contest Add countdown to New Year’s and party Renewed determination to fund two Specialists for more coverage in the Emergency Center Share photos and ideas to assist with the design of Beaumont’s new Emergency Center 16 Beaumont Children’s Hospital 17 Visiting Child Life Scholarship Conclusion The Visiting Child Life Specialist Scholarship program was an incredible learning experience. I returned with many new ideas to create innovative play programs at Beaumont. I started the journey with specific goals in mind, such as discovering new play programming and learning how to find a balance between play and procedural support. Additionally, I hoped to learn about how to help infants, children and families in the NICU and in adult care. I learned all of this and much more. I have already begun sharing the knowledge learned by visiting these wonderful children’s hospitals, and plan to implement many new services and programs to assist children through playful experiences. I would like to thank the Walt Disney Company and the Child Life Council for this scholarship. I will forever be grateful for this amazing opportunity. 17