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IDEAS That Work
Practical pearls from your colleagues
Greg Ruffing
FULLY ENGAGED iPads are easy to
figure out, even for kids who've never
played with one.
HAPPY AND CALM Kids focused on an iPad may not even notice you've put their masks on.
CALMING YOUNG PATIENTS
Kids Can Be Pills, So We Give Them a Tablet
W
e've found a great way
to distract kids who
can't help but be nervous and uncooperative when
they're about to have surgery: We
give them iPads to play with.
Naturally, a lot of kids are very
afraid in that situation, and people have tried a lot of different
ways over the years to help calm
1 4
them. For instance, having their
parents in the room. But that's
not terribly effective. It may be
reassuring at first, but children
still struggle, and they want their
parents to rescue them.
Videos, cartoons and music are
good, but they're fundamentally
passive. With games, there's interaction. Kids are focused on the
O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | S E P T E M B E R 2013
