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Today is not an ordinary day at Sunshine Elementary; the children here will learn about something different today. It's not a new grammar lesson or a math problem; they're learning about hospitals and what it's like to visit one. Mrs. Long's kindergarten class is in for a special treat this morning. Mrs. Long's class is one of several that Mary and her assistant will visit today. Mary is a Child Life specialist at Children's Hospital, and her assistant, Carmen, is a volunteer who is going to help her teach children about what goes on at Children's Hospital. "Children, today we have some special visitors," Mrs. Long says. "Good morning," Mary says. "Today you're going to learn about hospitals." The kids gather around a television to watch a short "movie" about Children's Hospital. After the movie is over, Mrs. Long divides her class so that half of the children go with Mary and half go with Carmen. The children take a seat around Mary as she opens a big suitcase. Inside the suitcase are all sorts of things that doctors and patients use at a hospital. Mary hands out some stethoscopes. "Does anybody know what a stethoscope is?" she asks. A child named Ashley answers: "It's so the doctor can "That's right," Mary says. The children begin to listen to their hearts through the stethoscopes. Mary lets them listen to her heart, and they listen to their friends' hearts, too. Mary also shows the students a blood pressure cuff and lets them try it on. "This is so the doctor can tell if your heart is pumping the right amount of blood through your veins," says Mary. "Your veins are like little tubes that supply blood to all parts of your body." "The blood pressure thing gives your arm a hug," a child named Kaitlyn says. On the other side of the room...
"I broke my arm once," says a student named Juan, "and the doctor made it all better with a cast." Back at Mary's station... Mary puts a surgical mask, a surgical gown, a surgical cap and purple surgical gloves on a student named Jarrod so that he looks like a surgeon. Mary tells the children why a surgeon puts on an outfit like this. "It's because a surgeon is a special doctor who works on your body, like a mechanic works on a car," Mary says. "A surgeon wants to keep from spreading germs to the patient he is working on." "Germs can make us sick," says a student named Carey. "That's right," says Mary, "and doctors want to make us well." Meanwhile, Carmen makes the children finger casts... Carmen tells her group that she is going to put a cast on each child's finger. "Will it hurt?" asks a student named Lacresha. "No," says Carmen. "Since you don't have a broken bone, we'll just put on a play cast. You can take it off when you want." Carmen takes a thin piece of cotton and wraps it around Lacresha's finger. Then she dips two strips of powdery fabric in a small bowl of water. "This is plaster," Carmen says. "It's like a bandage that gets hard." Carmen wraps the plaster around Lacresha's finger. A few minutes later, it's hard like a real cast! Back at Mary's station...
Mary also has a syringe without a needle, and she tells the kids, "This is what doctors and nurses use to give you medicine. They call it a shot. It may hurt for a second, but when you get better, you'll be glad you had one. Sometimes nurses and doctors have to take some blood out of your body. They usually only take a little bit so they can look at it under a microscope (something that lets you see very tiny things that you can't see with your eyes alone). Doctors can often tell what's making you sick when they look at your blood, so they'll know what medicine to give you to make you better." Now Mary and Carmen switch groups, and they start all over again with their "lessons." All the students in Mrs. Long's class learn about what it's like to visit the hospital. Now the children will not be afraid if they have to go to the hospital, and they'll know what the doctors and nurses are going to do and why. |
Each
year, Child Life specialists and volunteers from Children's Hospital visit
local schools to teach young children about what it is like to visit or
stay in the hospital and inform them about typical procedures that may
occur. These visits are part of a program called "Hello Hospital," which helps
to promote positive attitudes in children about hospitals and health care.
The "Hello Hospital" program is a project of the Child Life and Community Relations departments at Children's Hospital. This is a brief overview of what it would be like for Children's Hospital to present "Hello Hospital" at your school. The school and children in this scenario are fictional, but an actual visit would be similar. If you have any questions about this program or about preparing your child for a specific medical experience, please contact our Child Life Department at (865) 541-8909.
listen to your heartbeat."
Carmen
is teaching the children in her group about casts. Carmen has a real cast
lying on the table. The children touch it, and Carmen tells them why doctors
put casts on patients. "A cast helps your bones grow back healthy and strong after you break them," says Carmen. "The cast is hard because it's made to protect bones from being injured while they heal, and it keeps them straight." 
Mary has a stuffed animal with an IV in its arm. "An IV lets doctors and nurses give you medicine directly in your blood stream. This makes the medicine work faster and makes you well sooner," she says.