Carol Michalski-McGill
January 2015
Carol
Mcgill
,
RN
Ambulatory Surgery Center
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center
Baltimore
,
MD
United States
Carol Michalski-McGill has been very active in coordinating and hosting the Pediatric tours for Ambulatory Surgery. These are conducted monthly with invitations sent out to parents giving them the opportunity to bring their children to the Ambulatory Surgery Center prior to the date of surgery. The children and parents are given a tour of the area along with an explanation of what to expect on the day of surgery. The children are shown some of the equipment that is used in the pre-op area and have a chance to have their blood pressure taken so they are familiar with the process. At the end of the tour, there is an opportunity for questions while having juice and graham crackers. These tours help reduce the anxiety of both the child and parents on the day of surgery and are very well attended.
In addition to coordinating the tours, Carol also developed an activity box for special needs children in Ambulatory Surgery. She has a friend with an autistic child that provided her with some ideas for the box. Autistic children can become over stimulated in a strange environment which can cause anxiety and agitation. Providing activities that the child can perform can help decrease this behavior. The box contains toy cars, stacking rings, small soft plastic books, a flashlight, sticker and other objects for the child to play with. They are all child safe and washable. Carol purchased these items herself and put them in a plastic storage box with instructions on use. She provided instructions to staff on autistic children and behaviors at a staff meeting.
Just recently I had the opportunity to utilize the box. We had a five year old autistic boy in the pre-op area with his mother. He had become very agitated, noisy and was fighting his mother's efforts to calm him. I got the activity box and went over to him and handed him a car. He immediately became calm and allowed his mother to place him on the stretcher. As the pre-op nurse gathered information from the mother and did the assessment, I gave him different objects form the box, one at time. He remained calm and allowed both the nurse and anesthesia provider to perform their physical assessments. The mother was very pleased that we had this box and were able to intervene to calm the child. I told her one of our nurses had put the box together for just this purpose and asked her for feedback about the items. She said all of the items were great for autistic children - she has three. The patient's mom wanted to be sure I thanked the nurse who provided the box. I told Carol how helpful it was to have this box available and how it really made a difference in the patient's experience here in ASC. Sometimes the small things we do for patients and families make the biggest difference.
In addition to coordinating the tours, Carol also developed an activity box for special needs children in Ambulatory Surgery. She has a friend with an autistic child that provided her with some ideas for the box. Autistic children can become over stimulated in a strange environment which can cause anxiety and agitation. Providing activities that the child can perform can help decrease this behavior. The box contains toy cars, stacking rings, small soft plastic books, a flashlight, sticker and other objects for the child to play with. They are all child safe and washable. Carol purchased these items herself and put them in a plastic storage box with instructions on use. She provided instructions to staff on autistic children and behaviors at a staff meeting.
Just recently I had the opportunity to utilize the box. We had a five year old autistic boy in the pre-op area with his mother. He had become very agitated, noisy and was fighting his mother's efforts to calm him. I got the activity box and went over to him and handed him a car. He immediately became calm and allowed his mother to place him on the stretcher. As the pre-op nurse gathered information from the mother and did the assessment, I gave him different objects form the box, one at time. He remained calm and allowed both the nurse and anesthesia provider to perform their physical assessments. The mother was very pleased that we had this box and were able to intervene to calm the child. I told her one of our nurses had put the box together for just this purpose and asked her for feedback about the items. She said all of the items were great for autistic children - she has three. The patient's mom wanted to be sure I thanked the nurse who provided the box. I told Carol how helpful it was to have this box available and how it really made a difference in the patient's experience here in ASC. Sometimes the small things we do for patients and families make the biggest difference.