HealthLinks Upstate Jan-April 2023

www.Ups tatePhys i c i ansSC . com | www.Hea l thL i nksUps tate. com | 17 is comforted and remains still without the need for medical intervention. The patient can come in, have her “pictures” taken and leave without extraneous measures or costly stays. Another 7-year-old patient previously had a negative experience with the insertion of an IV at a facility through a different health care system. It was a taxing event, resulting in the youngster being physically restrained. Both he and his mother were nervous about the IV requirement for his procedure at Prisma. After finding out that the patient had dogs at home, Leitner recruited Kalle for assistance. The patient and mother – making “the face” – were delighted. The patient loved Kalle, and the IV was administered with one nurse, Kalle, and Leitner present. One poke. No tears. No restraints. One mother sobbing in relief. “This is how it should be,” the mother said, “and that’s not how his first experience was. Now that I know that it [an IV] can be done, it’s a game changer.” F.E.T.C.H. dogs also can do what dogs do best: listen.This was never more apparent than when a young patient was admitted to the hospital because she had attempted to harm herself. Leitner, Kalle and the patient went on a long walk ending in Prisma’s vast playroom, which has lots of soothing, natural light. The trio sat on the floor, with Kalle sandwiched in between. “Can I tell you why I’m here?” the patient asked. Petting Kalle, she matter-of-factly recited her troubles. Her father recently died from cancer; she'd broken up with a boyfriend; she was having these feelings and didn't know what to do with them; she attempted an overdose; and, most upsettingly to her, her little brothers found her unconscious. “I don’t want that to happen again,” she said. “This is a delicate area for a child life specialist,” Leitner said. “We aren’t necessarily psychiatrists or therapists, so we focus on making the patient comfortable – letting them know that they are OK here.”

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