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14
STAR PHOTOS BY ELWOOD BAKER
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Operation all over, patient gets kindly attention from student nurse Patricia
Gill and a visit from Dr. Fierst, while the relieved mother looks on smilingly.
SUNDAY. THE
STAR MAGAZINE. WASHINGTON. D C. MARCH 13. 1900
Continued From Preceding Page
The amount of preparation varies with
different children. For a very young child,
the parent's statement that the operation is
needed and reassurance that everything will
be all right may be all that is needed.
An older child might be told a week or two
ahead of time, to give him a chance to talk
about it and relieve his fears. His questions
should be answered to the best of the parents'
ability, if necessary with help from the physi
cian. The discussion should be calm and. of
course, avoid the use of frightening terms,
such as “cut'’ or "bleed.”
A handy method of familiarizing the child
with his coming experience is to act out the
operation with a doll or a toy animal. For a
cushion against what Dr. Fierst calls the most
alarming part of an operation, the induction
of anesthesia, the child might practice breath
ing in and out under a coffee cup at home.
On arrival at Children's, the patient first
goes with his parents to register at the admis
sions office. There, a plastic bracelet is fast
ened on the child's wrist bearing his name,
his parents’ names and his physician's name.
Most children are pleased at this, and have
been known to wear the bracelet for weeks
after the operation.
Then, still with his mother or both parents,
the child goes to the laboratory for specimen
tests, is introduced to his floor supervisor,
and then shown to his room. He is welcome to
bring clothing and a toy from home.
If the operating schedule starts at 8 am,
the child is awakened about 20 minutes ahead
and conducted with his mother to the hos
pital's playroom-waiting room, a cheerfully
decorated place full of toys. He plays until
time to step into the induction room, still
accompanied by his parents.
Besides Dr. Fierst, who has been at Chil
dren's for 23 years, the hospital has three
anesthesiologists engaged exclusively in
w
Mother receives post-operative re
port in the lounge, where she has
waited near the operating room.
pediatric work: Drs. Francis J. O'Bryan. Rob
ert De Witt and Kamel Hassan.
Conversation in the induction room is
pleasant. The parents are allowed to stay
until the child is under anesthetic. The
patient never sees the operating room. His
parents may wait in a lounge near the operat
ing room, handy to a report from the doctors.
After the operation, when the child has
regained consciousness in the air-conditioned
recovery room, the family is reunited in the
patient's room.