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| Dialysis patient Lexi Tursi performs a surgical procedure on her stuffed animal with friend Taylor (r) and Child Life specialist Toni Crowell. |
 leven-year-old
Lexi Tursi, with stuffed animal and new Maroon 5 CD in hand, arrived
with her friend Taylor for the post-Valentine’s Day pajama
and pizza party. She happily greeted her friends in the bright,
cheerfully decorated room and started to prepare for the day’s
events.
Not exactly what you might expect in the dialysis unit of a hospital,
or how you might picture a young girl about to undergo a long, uncomfortable
procedure. But Lexi, like many Children’s patients, is fortunate
to have a Child Life specialist to help her through her hospital
experience.
Lexi has known Child Life specialist Toni Crowell, MS,
CCLS, for three years, and the two have developed a close
relationship. “She helps me have fun,” Lexi says. “It’s
never boring around here.”
The two play games, work on projects such as making fashion books,
simulate medical procedures with stuffed animals and props, and
practice deep breathing relaxation techniques. Coming in for treatment
three times a week can make it difficult for patients like Lexi
to lead a typical life, but Crowell helps create a routine that
is both normalized and fun. Unlike most adult wards, there is often
a sense of community as children going through similar treatments
rely on each other—and the frequent pizza or dance parties—for
social support.
Crowell is one of 18 unit-based Child Life specialists at Children’s,
who work as liaisons between doctors, nurses and patients. They
help patients and families cope with the fear and anxiety associated
with difficult procedures and hospitalizations, and provide developmental
play experiences at the bedside and in the activity rooms.
“Child Life specialists provide the environment and opportunity
to counteract the stresses inherent in most hospital experiences,”
says Myra Fox, director of Child Life Services.
“We incorporate the child’s perspective into treatment
plans. The staff contribute greatly to our understanding of the
whole child.”
The Child Life profession evolved out of research in the early
part of the 20th century showing that the high rate of infant deaths
in hospitals was related to sensory deprivation and a lack of human
contact. Play helpers and teachers were hired by hospitals to ease
young patients’ boredom, loneliness and anxieties.
In the 1970s, the profession and its educational requirements became
better defined. Since then, the number of Child Life programs at
hospitals with pediatric programs has grown, and today colleges
and universities offer academic programs specializing in Child Life.
Child Life specialists have undergraduate or graduate degrees in
Child Life, Child Development or Education. They can become certified
through the Child Life Council, a professional organization recognized
by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Child Life specialists often
develop specific areas of expertise such as infants, oncology patients,
or terminally ill children.
Angela Franceschi, MS, CCLS, a seven-year Children’s
veteran, employs coping techniques tailored to the needs of her
patients. In the hospital, children often feel that they have little
control over what is happening to them, so Franceschi gives her
patients some choices, such as a “time-out” coupon to
be used during procedures. “We try to help normalize the whole
hospital experience,” Franceschi says. “It’s not
just medicine that helps them get better.”
Child Life specialists work side by side with nurses, but perform
a unique role that assists both the nurse and the patient with the
emotional aspects of care, while the nurse concentrates on the medical
aspects.
“When we’re performing a painful procedure, it’s
a huge help to have someone there who has a rapport with the patient
to help with techniques of distraction or refocusing, so we can
do what we have to do,” says Janice Farren, RN,
Renal Dialysis Unit. “Having the Child Life specialists here
allows us to do a better job. I can’t imagine working here
without them.”
Children’s will celebrate Child Life Month with a week-long
series of events beginning March 30. Children are invited to bring
a stuffed animal to the Puppy Pre-op Program in the Patient Entertainment
Center for a simulation of typical pre-operation procedures, such
as getting x-rays, drawing blood, or getting a cast. On Thursday,
April 1, from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Gamble Reading Room in the hospital
library, the Child Life and Nursing departments will present an
exemplar for Children’s staff of a true story of collaboration
between a Child Life specialist and nurse as they helped a patient
through an especially difficult situation.
“Child Life specialists make an enormous contribution to
the care of our patients and their families by allowing our patients
to be children first and foremost,” says Susan Shaw, RN, MS,
director of Clinical Operations. “They are essential members
of the health care team.” —NT
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