In February 2022, Destiny Garmon (ED RN) started a campaign within our department for “Pediatric Plushies”. She started this with $5 stuffed animals that she funded. She made a basket, composed an email to the staff, and envisioned it to work like an exchange program. Take a plushie and replace it when you come back. 

It was quickly realized that more pediatric patients visit the ED than previously perceived. For her birthday in March, she held a Facebook fundraiser to support this cause. She was able to raise $705 and was put in contact with someone who would purchase these at a lower cost and without markup. There was quite a delay in these arriving but throughout that time, she has continued to ensure that plushies were always available. Countless individuals have contributed to this, and she spends her time going to procure the stuffed animals, bring them back, tag them, and keeping them organized. We have received so much positive feedback from patients’ family members regarding how meaningful these animals are and how they improved the experience for their children. Her co-workers appreciate that it gives them the ability to positively impact their interaction with patients and have since continued to share in the fundraising campaign to ensure this continues. 

Destiny does many things for the department and is always looking for innovative ways to improve this. This is by far one of her biggest successes and a truly meaningful project that she takes great pride in. I would love to see her recognized for how much time and effort she has put into making sure that our young patients can have some of their anxiety and fears relieved through medical play. Below is a scenario that she wrote regarding the importance of this, so that she could explain the purpose to others:

“It is natural to be anxious when coming to the hospital. However, imagine if you were a 5-year-old with the worst tummy ache of your life and your mom just carried you into the emergency department. This is a new and strange environment. There are so many sick people and the last thing you remember about a doctor is getting stabbed in the arm with a huge needle. You have no idea what is about to happen to you.

One of the strongest fears in children is fear of the unknown. We as medical providers can help to alleviate this fear through medical play. Stuffed animals are a great way to familiarize children with medical devices and procedures. For example: the triage nurse is trying to obtain a blood pressure on the 5-year-old patient brought in by his mother. However, he is upset and crying because he is afraid of getting another shot. The triage nurse uses a stuffed animal to demonstrate what will happen when she obtains his blood pressure and gives the patient the opportunity to play doctor and take the toy's blood pressure too. By utilizing medical play, the triage nurse has developed a therapeutic relationship with her patient. The patient is no longer afraid to have his blood pressure taken.”