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The public health measure I chose to that is meaningful to me is immunizations. I am a Certified Child Life Specialist. We are pediatric health care professionals that help children and families, mostly in hospital settings, cope with the stresses of hospitalization and illness. We do this by providing age appropriate procedural preparation, advocating for pain management, teaching coping strategies, self expression activities and my favorite…play!
I'm sure by now you're wondering, "How does this relate to immunizations?" Well I'm going to tell you! During my Child Life internship one of my assignments was to do a Kindergarten Clinic. I know…I know…you're asking yourself, "What the heck is that?" Well, as most of you may or may not know, when you're starting kindergarten there are a few immunizations that you must have before starting. So, the Kindergarten Clinic brings Child Life to the health department.
Just as Child Life Specialist do in the hospital, we were able to provide the same type of interventions to the children coming in to get their immunizations. We used distractions such as bubbles and iSpys and we also used a technique called comfort positioning. The nurses at the health department (who had never heard of Child Life) as well as many of the parents of the children (most of who also had never heard of Child Life) were quite skeptical at first.
After the first few patients, the parents are the nurses were believers! They were amazed at how smoothly the immunizations went. Did some of the children cry you ask? Well, of course. But wouldn't you if you had been poked? The difference was in how they recovered afterwards. Many of them only cried for a second or two and then continued on playing with the distractions items we had. The parents even were happy that they were able to hold their child in a comforting position. The nurses even expressed how well the comfort positioning helped them to be able to administer the shot faster and easier, causing less stress to the child.
Overall, the Kindergarten Clinic was definitely a success. I'm happy to say that as a result of the project that myself and my partner intern completed, the health department was able to get funding to hire a part time Child Life Specialist. I thought this was amazing. I think that immunizations are very important for children around the world, but I do feel that the fear that children have of getting "pokes" can cause them to have problems with fear and trust as well as unnecessary emotional distress.
From the Child Life Council: www.childlife.org IMMUNIZATIONS IN EUROPE According to the European Commission, it is rare for children in Europe to get immunizations and if they do get them they rarely finish the whole series of immunizations. Many of the immunizations that these children are missing are for diseases that are preventable through vaccinations. Some feel that the health care providers should be the ones educating and reaching out to parents to inform them of the benefits to immunizations. They feel that because these health care professionals are in close contact with parents early on in a child's life that they should be the biggest advocates for immunizations. I did not find much information specifically on why Europeans choose not to vaccinate. It is scary though, I saw a statistic that showed that there was an increase in childhood cases of measles by 36% in England and Wales in 2008. I'm not expert, but that's a pretty high increase. While I do feel that it is important for individuals to have freedom of choice; I also feel that in some cases we really need to just focus on what is going to be best for our children.
On August 22, 2012 while at work, I received a phone call from my younger cousin Lauren letting me know she was in at the hospital and in labor. Unfortunately, I couldn't leave work at the time, but I told her that I would be there as soon as I was done. Lauren is my uncle's daughter and is from New York. She recently moved to Georgia, and coincidentally to the same city as me. She and I didn't grow up together, but I was still excited for her to be living closer. I figured that if anything we could start building on our "cousinship" and I could help her out here and there with her new baby.
So, once I was done with work I rushed over to the hospital. My uncle, his fiancee, and my cousin's brother were all there in the waiting room. They told me no one was back there with Lauren because all of them had weak stomachs. So, of course it was left up to me to go back and help her through the labor. I was not sure what to expect, but I definitely didn't want her to be alone during the delivery.
When I walked into the room she had not started pushing yet, but the nurses were preparing for her to start. She was pretty scared, as this was her first child and she was also in some pain. Once the nurses instructed that it was time to start pushing I pretty much coached her through. I counted for her and helped hold her legs. I attempted to let her hold my hand, but she was squeezing the life out of my poor hands! Within about a half an hour of pushing the baby was almost out. I could actually see the crown of her head! That was so INSANE for me! I had never seen anything like that. Then with two more really hard pushes...Alani was delivered! I was so happy and so was my cousin! I'm not sure which of us were crying the most! Soon after, the family was allowed in and we all began taking pictures and sharing with friends the arrival of the newest addition to our family.
I chose this birthing experience because it was the first time I have every experienced it so up close and personal. It was absolutely incredible to see. Thankfully, our baby was full term, so I don't necessarily think her birth had any major impact on her development. I think that when babies are born prematurely is when their birth has the biggest impact on their development. Mostly because premature births could be certain parts of their body, brian, etc. are not fully developed. Also, our family doesn't necessarily have birthing traditions per say, other than making sure that we send pictures to any and everyone willing to look at them. I do have friend that is from Kenya, and was the last of six children and the only boy. In his culture, due to him having all sisters and his parents finally having a son it was a really big celebration. The celebration began even prior to him being born and even after his birth. It is amazing to me how different cultures choose to celebrate or not celebrate certain events. My father has five children and his last is a boy. However, in our culture it wasn't any different than any other birth. Yes, I'm sure he was excited to finally have a boy, but it was not celebrated any different than any of the others.
As a Child Life Specialist the thing that can be the most challenging is when a child dies. While we have been professionally trained in helping children and families cope with death and dying, it still can be a challenge and it definitely my least favorite thing to do. However, when it happens, I know that my role is to help the child or family I am working with. Knowing what my role is and focusing on that allows me to better help the families and is also my way of coping with what could be the most difficult thing in their lives.
This particular book, The Next Place by Warren Hanson, has been a favorite tool of mine when helping families cope with death. It is often given to families after their child dies and is often used with siblings or other children involved to help them understand and cope. Waldman House Press, described The Next Place as a book that "...brings gentle verse revealing a safe and welcome destination free from earthly hurts and filled with wonder and peace. A comforting message of hope and a gift of compassion for the bereaved". I love this book so much because it is so general and non-offensive to all religions, races, creeds, and backgrounds.
It is also special to me in particular because it was given to my family in early 2000 when my younger cousin, Dexter, lost his battle with cancer. It still sits in the curio cabinet at my grandmothers house and means a lot to myself and my family. I encourage all of you to read this book or share it with someone you know that has a child trying to cope with the loss of a loved one.
Bibliotherapy is amazing and works wonders for children! It gives them the opportunity to see someone else going through what they are experiencing, clears up any misconceptions they may have, and also helps parents communicate with their children by opening up the door for conversation.
Here is a link to books on several different topics that you all may find useful!
In case you haven't figured it out...the picture above is a painting of me. It was painted by a little girl that I met during my internship at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Carolina in Greenville, NC. For privacy reasons, I'll call her "Little K".
Little K was hospitalized for a little over thirty days during my internship due to complications that she had with her kidney transplant. The thing that made her so special with me, was that she was the first child during my career as a Child Life Specialist that I was able to really build a connection with. Prior to starting my rotation on the General Pediatrics floor, I had completed rotations on all of our outpatient units. Therefore, I was never really able to build long term connections with the children and families I saw. It was more of an in and out type of thing. However, with Little K, I spent three and a half weeks on the unit with her and her family. I was able to spend lots of time working with her and her family and they made such an impact on me personally and professionally.
Little K's last day in the hospital, was also the last day of my internship. It was an exciting time for the both of us, but sad also. We had to say goodbye, but we were both looking forward to what the future held for us. Shortly before it was time for me to leave I was paged to the unit. When I walked on to the floor I was greeted by Little K and her family, and she was holding this painting to give to me. She wrote a really sweet message on the back of the picture and told me that she painted the picture for me, so that I would never forget her.
She is such an amazing little girl. She has been dealing with her illness since she was very young, and now as a teenager she continues to fight. She is so very optimistic about life and about her future. She is truly an inspiration to me which is why I wanted to share this picture with all of you!
One of my greatest passions is working with children facing chronic illness and hospitalization. I have had the pleasure of working extensively with children that fall into this category at one of the most amazing places on earth! This place is Camp Twin Lakes! Camp Twin Lakes literally changed my life! I honestly can not even begin to put into words how much so! CTL is a place where children's lives are changed DAILY! It's a place where children go from saying, "I can't" to saying, "I can"...and "I did"!
I worked as a part of the summer staff in 2011, and I went into it thinking that I had so much to offer to the campers. The funny thing is, they gave me so much more than I could ever give them! The strength, courage, and fight that they have in their hearts is so inspiring!
I could go on all day about how awesome CTL is...but here is a video that gives more insight on CTL and how it changes the lives of children in Georgia year round!
Hello Everyone! I'm Keliesha! I'm a Georgia Southern University graduate and I'm currently completing a MS in Early Childhood Studies with a specialization in Teaching Adults in the Early Childhood field. This blog will serve as a place for me to express my ideas and display my work as well as a place for me to connect and network with others in the field.
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