Ambulatory Surgery Center Caters to Kids
Dr. Matthew Voorman, Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist at the Hutchinson Clinic, has witnessed the anxiety and distress his young patients experienced as they were being taken away from their parents to head back to the Operating Room. At the suggestion of his nurse, Tana Spradlin, they looked into purchasing a battery operated Lamborghini for the children to ride in on the way back to the OR. Now instead of frightened kids and stressed out parents, the little hot rod pulls up to the exam room and the patients eagerly hop in and wave to their parents as they take off down the hallway, smiles all around.
Tiffany Antonio, Charge Nurse in the Ambulatory Surgery Center, has seen the toll it took on the kids and parents before the introduction of the toy sports car. “The car really reduces the fear the kids go through and reduces parent anxiety when they see their child having fun while heading back to the operating room,” said Antonio. When a video of a small child “driving” the sports car back to surgery was posted to social media, it caught the eye of Keith Humphrey, President and CEO of Jet Airwerks. Mr. Humphrey was so impressed by the “nice thing you’re doing to ease the stress on kids” that he reached out to the Hutchinson Clinic to see if there was anything he could do to help. One of the downsides of this initiative is that the car has a maximum weight limit of 66 pounds, which leaves some of the little people out of luck, so Mr. Humphrey is working with the Hutchinson Clinic to provide another battery operated vehicle rated up to 120 pounds. This will make a huge difference to the pediatric patients who have outgrown the Lamborghini. The Hutchinson Clinic is grateful to Mr. Humphrey for his benevolence.
The Lamborghini has only been in use for a few weeks but the difference it is making has been well worth the cost and staff time to make this perk available for patients. “I’ve gotten numerous phone calls from grateful parents.” said Karie Bradley, Ambulatory Surgery Center Director. “Now that there is a toy car involved, the anxiety level has decreased dramatically.” Some of the kids are waking up from surgery now asking if they can get back into the car because they are having such a good time.
The Hutchinson Clinic is always looking for ways to improve the patient experience and this one definitely hit the mark. Tana and Dr. Voorman are a great example of what it looks like to put the patients first.