Fun things for kids in pediatric clinical?

[Im a Pepper]

Hi all,

Forgive me for intruding - I'm not a pediatric nurse yet but I'm doing a peds clinical this quarter and wanted advice from the experts! :) What kind of fun things can I do to connect with the kiddies in clinical that would be acceptable on the unit? I was thinking of maybe keeping stickers in my pocket to give them or putting a small stuffed animal on my stethoscope (although as I write that out it just sounds so unclean - maybe a bad idea). I did see really cute ID tags in the shapes of animals that are completely latex free. What else can you think of that will help me connect with the little ones?

Thanks in advance!

[KimO peds]

I work on a small pediatric/medical floor and have been there for almost 2 yrs. We use stickers all the time after a patient has had a painful procedure/IV start or takes their medicine well. Another thing we use are bubbles..distracting and fun! You could take in some appropriate books and read with them if you have some down time. Letting them play with medical equipment (age appropriate of course) and use them on their own stuffed animals or dolls (or listen to their own hearts or their parents) is good too and might even help decrease their fear of us scary nurses. When I have kids that are on isolation and I have to wear a mask i sometimes draw a smiley face on it to look less scary haha.

Good luck peds is the BEST!

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Those are actually very good ideas. Instead of a stuffed toy for your stethoscope you could get something washable that you could wipe down every day when you do your steth. Another thing you could do is watch some Nickelodeon and Disney Channel so you know their pop culture. Dora, Spongebob, Wizards of Waverly Place, High School Musical... you know what I mean. With the smaller ones, giving them a "job" like holding the thermometer control unit or getting them to push buttons often gets them into a cooperative frame of mind.

[Im a Pepper]

Thanks you guys!

KimO - what a cute idea about the smiley face on your isolation mask :)

janfrn - thanks so much! Great ideas and I especially liked the one about giving them a job to do!

[rachelgeorgina]

Sometimes things as simple as letting a child take mum's temperature or your temperature is a good way to let you take THEIR temperature!