Childlife and Patient Satisfaction

I was reflecting on Jason and Erin's presentation about the different views of administrators and physicians and one quote from their pre work really stuck out to me:

"What I’ve learned from both working in the ER and visiting patients on the floors is that real quality is not a zero-sum game. Quality is multidimensional and nuanced; we can’t sacrifice or neglect one dimension for another. When patients are dissatisfied with the minutiae of care, their real message is that their emotional needs are not being met. They may feel disrespected, confined, vulnerable, fearful and lonely. These are all 10s on the scale of painful emotions. Not treating them interferes with healing."

This quote followed a passage about nurses not wanting to attend to small emotional needs of patients, such as wanting Splenda and not sugar. The administrators were frustrated that the patients weren't getting an experience, and the physicians were frustrated that they were being held back from practicing medicine. 

I was talking with one of my best friends about the topic of quality patient care. She is a Child-life Specialist major at UNH. A child  life specialist is a certified professional who helps children and their families cope with the stress of illness and hospitalization. They use play and age appropriate explanations to help prepare the child for there procedures, or simply just life in the hospital. They often attend medical procedures as support for both the child and parent. Hospitalizations can be traumatic for a child, and their lack of understanding of what is happening to their bodies can take a toll on them. It has been found that Pediatric procedures are more successful with the child life specialist present due to their training on how to handle the specific worries of a child. Many hospitals are choosing to hire child life specialist in order to increase HCAHPS scores.

This made me realize the necessity for an employee such as a child life specialist. Doctors and nurses cannot constantly be focused on the feelings of each individual patient, especially the specific emotional needs of a child. Hiring people such as child life specialists could help heal the concern a lot of administrators have about patient quality, at least in terms of pediatrics.