There are many times that I am asked to help a patient to increase compliance with their plan of care. This can be anything from helping a patient take their medicine to helping them walk around the unit post-op to simply helping them breathe after a breathing treatment. These are the times that creativity really kicks in and I need to have more than one trick up my sleeve. Here are some of the tools I use to help increase compliance:

• Incentive charts – there are tons you can find online like this one that I found on Amazon. Lots of times a sticker chart alone is enough to help a patient increase compliance with their plan of care. Never underestimate the power of stickers, people!
• Increase ambulation – this one is always tricky and requires a lot of back up plans. Depending on the age, there are various floor toys that require kids to walk, stand, or move around to engage in play. Again this will all depend on the specific patient and his/her likes, interests, and pain level when needing to walk. Think outside of the box when selecting toys; for example, I once had a teen soccer player who was reluctant to walk after his surgery. I brought out a soccer ball during one of his laps around the unit and he lit up with excitement to be able to lightly kick the ball down the hallway. Another example was a 5-year-old patient that didn’t want to walk after having her appendix removed. I was called in to help after the nurse had tried for over 30 minutes to convince her to walk. As soon as I came into the room the patient exclaimed: “I’M NOT GOING TO WALK!” I validated her feelings and told her I wasn’t going to make her walk. However, I noticed her Rapunzel doll looked a little hungry so I asked the patient if she wanted me to bring in a play kitchen so she could make her some food. The patient eagerly accepted and spent over an hour walking, sitting, standing, and moving around her room as she played preparing food for her doll.
• Increase PO intake – when it comes to food one must always be empathetic. I would never want to ruin a child’s relationship with food so I always use caution with these interventions. Depending on the age, fun plates/cups/utensils of their favorite characters will do the trick. Other times an incentive chart will help. I’ve had a lot of success with simply changing the subject; stop talking about food and do something else. Leave the food around, engage in play, and the eating will often start organically. I mean, who doesn’t like to munch on some waffles while setting up Lego’s. It’s definitely a syrupy mess but hey, he ate! Providing play food and letting them freely play and feed their toys can also be helpful.
• Incentive spirometer – many patients are required to use an incentive spirometer after certain breathing treatments. The ones at my hospital have fun designs on them that make them look like a game. However, I get consults to help with these patients all the time! Kids hate using them! So, leave it to me with my bag of tricks to get kids to breathe. Check out my previous post on yoga and deep breathing as this is always my first go to. I also like to give kids choices so I have kazoo’s, bubbles, string pipe toy, and other fun breathing toys to get them to take those deep breaths. Even toddlers get in on the breathing fun by blowing out the candles on my birthday cake. There’s nothing toddlers love more than songs, repetition, and a cause and effect toy!

For a full list of resources to increase compliance, check out my Amazon list here:

Increasing Compliance
Link: http://a.co/1sKYUcg