These Booties were made for Walkin'
Walk in My Booties demystifies the surgery experience and puts patients and families first
When a child needs surgery, the experience can be scary for the entire family. That’s why for nearly 20 years, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital has offered operating room tours to families and patients. But for frontline staff who schedule children for surgery and who are often asked about what can be expected during the surgical process, answering questions isn’t very easy. So, two years ago, the Patient Family Centered Care Committee teamed up with medical staff in the Mott Operating Rooms, Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, Anesthesia, and Child and Family Life to create the annual Walk in My Booties Tour to help them—and all interested Health System staff—understand the anesthesia/surgical experience.
“In addition to taking the scariness away from patients and families, we wanted to make sure staff was aware of the resources available to families, so we opened the tour up to them,” says Sheila Trouten, B.S.N., R.N., education nurse coordinator in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit.
During the Tour, hosts take staff through the pre-operative, operative and post-operative experiences. Participants meet Child Life specialists, medical assistants, nurses and other medical staff, and have the opportunity to ask medical professionals questions about the experience and observe mock patients at various stages along the tour.
We’ve had people who worked here 30 years who had never been down to the Mott Operating Rooms take the tour,” says Julie Piazza, Child Life specialist and training coordinator for Child Standardized patient. “Staff who take the tour tell me, ‘Wow, I’ve never really realized the resources you have, or how long it takes for a child to recover’—it opens a whole new perspective and understanding on the services we offer to patients and helps us all work together more effectively,” she says.
Although the Walk in My Booties Tour is an annual event, staff members can make an appointment for a personal tour throughout the year. To do so, call 734-763-2513. |
