Emily McGarvey
February 2022
Emily
Mcgarvey
,
MSN, RN, CPEN
Nursing Services / Clinical Excellence
Kaiser Permanente Colorado
Denver
,
CO
United States

 

 

 

Emily worked with national vendors and the Buzzy team to bring this technique to Kaiser Permanente Colorado.
Our smallest members are also some of the most important in our organization. Their pain and anxiety translate to their parents in profound ways. Emily not only understands this fact but works tirelessly to ensure that we are doing everything in our power to remove both the fear and the pain of injections. The Buzzy is a scientifically proven way to remove the "sting" from shots. Nurses know that if we can have one good experience, the next will be better. Emily understands this fact acutely. She worked with national vendors and the Buzzy team to bring this technique to Kaiser Permanente Colorado. This was not a small feat. Implementation of a new nursing procedure, grant writing, education for frontline staff in 30+ buildings, and more presentations than one can count, the Buzzy arrived in KPCO for first our pediatric departments and then to primary care and specialty departments.

Enter in the COVID 19 pandemic and the COVID vaccine and one can begin to see the impact that Emily's hard work and dedication have had. She again worked to ensure that every vaccine clinic has at least 2 Buzzy devices on hand along with enough ice packs (wings) for our pediatric population to have a good experience getting their vaccine. She partnered with Professional Practice and Professional Development Coordinators to refresh how to use this and deployed a representative to every vaccine clinic site. She demonstrated how to utilize the device, scripting for parents and for kiddos, and showed up every day at multiple sites to ensure staff felt comfortable and families knew it was available to them.