free | Adventures in Child Life

Being that March is Child Life Month (YAY!) I am going to share with you 3 of my favorite finds throughout the week. Today is all about Pabs Packs!

“PAB” is for Pia and Abbie; that’s us. We are lifelong friends. One of the things we share is knowing what it’s like to be in the hospital feeling lousy and scared. Abbie was diagnosed at age 13 in 2013 with Type 1 diabetes. Pia received her diagnosis in 2014 at the age of 14: Stage 2A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Thanks to the wonderful care we received at Children’s Hospitals Pia is cancer free and Abbie has her diabetes under control. With a lot of help from our families, we started PAB’S PACKS in 2014 because we wanted to help kids who are going through long days in the hospital.

Image source http://www.pabspacks.org/

I split my days between NICU and our surgery/orthopedics unit. The surgery/orthopedic unit is where I meet patients that are about to go into surgery and are in major need of some comfort. Pabs Packs are the perfect compliment to my teachings/preps prior to surgery because they include everything the patient’s need at that time.

A soft blanket
A stress ball
Chapstick and lotion
A very cute and cuddly penguin (which I’ve been able to place IV’s on during medical play to match the patient)
A journal with a pen (which I use to encourage patients to write any questions they may have or journal about their experience)
& a flyer with the inspiring story of Pia and Abbie and their journey with hospitalization

My teens absolutely love their Pabs Packs inside and out (the backpacks themselves are very chic, modern, and unisex)! I’ve seen time and time again what a tremendous positive impact they have on not just the patients, but the family as well.

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While it is an honor to be able to be a part of this difficult time in a family’s life, bereavements are always difficult in a pediatric setting. They’re of course difficult for the grieving family, they’re difficult for the staff, and they’re difficult for me. No matter what anyone says/does, this is the worst day in this family’s life. Our role as child life specialists is to provide support to the grieving family. This may be by simply sitting with the patient’s mother and listening to her vent, this may be by helping the family create a memory box for the patient, or even just providing tissues and tea. Every bereavement is different as are the needs of each family. During my time in NICU I have found some incredible resources that I’ve been able to offer grieving families.

Angel Gowns NICU Helping Hands’ Angel Gown® Program began in 2013 because we recognized there was an overwhelming need for better support for families who lost a baby. Our Angel Gown® Program provides comfort for bereaved families through the gift of a beautiful custom-made gown for final photos and for burial services.

I was touched when I received my shipment of Angel Gowns by seeing how much detail was put into the gowns. They’re made from donated wedding dresses and come in a wide range of sizes. The smallest being an “Angel Wrap” for those angels that are too small to clothe, up to extra-large size for infants. The gowns come in individual boxes with a flyer from NICU Helping Hands of various support services they offer grieving families. The gowns are also open in the back with the option to tie, much like a hospital gown.

Angel Gown for a girl

Angel Gown for a boy

Angel Wrap for a girl

Teeny Tears Teeny Tears is a service organization that provides tiny flannel diapers at no charge to hospitals and bereavement support organizations for families that have suffered the loss of a preemie or micropreemie child through stillbirth or NICU loss.

Teeny Tears are another great resource which offer cloth diapers/hats and blanket for the loss of preemies/micropreemies. What I love most about Teeny Tears is that each bundle comes with two diapers and two hats; one for the baby to keep and one for the family to keep.

I have also created an Amazon list of other items I’ve used for bereavements. Click here: http://a.co/iwUT1Zt

Novo nordisk has many incredible resources to help patients and healthcare providers learn/teach about diabetes. This is one of my personal favorite teaching materials for a new diabetes diagnosis. To view, click here.

By going onto their website, you can find many other fun, colorful, child friendly resources that are free and ready to print (click here to view). Not only do they have information for the patients/families, they also have a guide for healthcare professionals on how to provide this life changing information. This guide for healthcare professionals not only breaks down key messages to give the child but also key messages to give the child’s family/caregiver when addressing various topics. All of these resources on their webpage are available in English, French, Spanish, Swahili, and Amharic.

I am a huge fan of resources like these that are free and easily accessible for patients, families, and healthcare providers. I wish I had similar resources for everydiagnosis! Thank you Novo nordisk!

Currently one of my favorite resources to use with my pre-op patients is this surgery prep book from Katie Mense. It’s very kid friendly (non-threatening), easy to follow, and free to download! Download your copy by clicking the link below. original-2467686-1

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-is-Surgery-Book-and-Medical-Leave-note-to-Students-2467686

I am so excited to finally have my teacher tool box up and running! I’ve always been very organized and now I’m able to have all of my expired/left over medical supplies nicely sorted. You can find your own teacher tool box on Amazon.com – click here. They sell lots of different sizes so make sure to look around for one that best meets your needs. As for the labels, I found mine on tacherspayteachers.com – shout out to Classroom Ispirations! You can click here or you can simply search “teacher toolbox labels” on teacherspayteachers.com and find other themes. Many of them are free like the one I used!

Working on a respiratory unit I often have patients that have been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). This is a population I never worked with at my previous position in the pediatric emergency room so I had a lot of learning to do coming into my new position. May is CF awareness month so I thought I’d share some of the amazing resources I have found to help educate and support our CF patients.

With a quick google search, I was able to find (free!) resources via the cystic fibrosis foundation web page. I requested a couple of items, one of which is my ultimate favorite: a coloring/story book about a little panda with CF name Huxi! I was also sent booklets for parents/caregivers, booklets for teens, and a big “ultimate guide to CF” binder, stress balls, and luggage tags. I am so thankful for all of these resources and how they will help my patients (and myself) learn more about CF.

To see where I found these resources, follow the link below:

http://www.foundcare.com/fc-patients/resources/

Adventures in Child Life

My Adventure in the Field of Child Life as a New CCLS!

Tag Archives: free

Favorite Find

NICU Bereavements

Diabetes made simple

Surgery prep

Teacher Toolbox

Cystic fibrosis resources!