Thursday, June 14, 2018

Mission






Mission hospital was huge, and they were currently building on. We only went through mother-baby, pediatric, and NICU and it was just amazing to see them have that med beds available especially compared to home were one of our hospitals just has a few rooms for pediatric patients, and there isn’t a NICU at all. There is another hospital where I’m from that has an amazing children’s hospital and it actually reminded me of that. There is a large population of exposed and premature infants from all over the area, it was heartbreaking to see all of the babies today, but there was also a lot of hope and there were beautiful stories of survival posted right up front for all to see. I thought the level of care being given was phenomenal, and all the services they offered for mom, baby and family was very helpful for those conditions.

Hospitalization effects children and their families in many ways, first of all you are in a new area, that’s not home, with strangers and you are sick, so it’s a place you need to be, not always a place you want to be. This organization applies family centered care starting from making the rooms big enough so that there is room for family to come and stay with the patient. Its encouraged to have your family there with you. Mission is the bigger hospital of the surrounding area, so the smaller hospitals feed into it, because they have more room, more staff and they are more equipped equipment when it comes to major traumas. They have child life services to help children go through different procedures and just feel more comfortable in the hospital setting, which is a service we offer at home so I thought that was really neat to see.

There was a really big difference when comparing Asheville to Cherokee. Cherokee was so rural, and it Asheville is a city. The landscape is the same but the towns are completely different. It seemed as if there were more things to do in Ashville, certainly a larger population. Ashville actually seemed more of a tourist town than anything to me.

Today what stood out to me the most was the Mission’s Children Hospital. It was simply amazing to see all they did for children under one roof. It was an inviting environment. The paintings on the wall were amazing. The education for the MRI was so neat. Teaching children through play is the best way. Our wonderful tour guide was so informative, she was definitely empowering and uplifting.  The Mission’s children Hospital made caring for children so much fun, it took what is most of the time a bad time in a child’s life, and turned it into something very fun. The approach they have on treating pediatric patients can really take the fear of hospitals visits. Today’s visit made me really excited about pediatrics how they give all the care that adults would get but in a kid friendly way.

9 comments:

  1. Kamia,
    After the tour of Missions Hospital, I too walked out thinking of how amazing that facility was. The staff was so welcoming and full of compassion. I could tell that everyone working at Mission Hospital, loved their job.
    I like how you mentioned a hospital is a place that you need to be and not necessarily a place you want to be. This is true, but I feel Mission makes it a little more bearable. They have huge rooms so family never has to leave the child's side, games for the kids to play and for Halloween they even Trick-or-Treat! I know hospitals are very scary for most, but if we can incorporate a little fun into the stay, why not?

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  2. That is a great way to describe hospitals Kamia. Thank you for pointing this out Lakin!

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  3. Kamia,

    Great post, it was so nice to see this hospital compared to our children’s hospital back home, and even compared to our own pediatric unit. I have never toured our NICU unit so I don’t know for sure how advanced they are compared to ours back home but I believe that we are the same “level” hospital, we are both level 3. How you explain resilience. These kids are in a completely different environment and by having a room that allows enough room for the family to support their child. I loved the education for the MRI was so great that type of education really helps the children understand the process and helps them feel more comfortable about what is going on.

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  4. Kamia,

    Great post, it was so nice to see this hospital compared to our children’s hospital back home, and even compared to our own pediatric unit. I have never toured our NICU unit so I don’t know for sure how advanced they are compared to ours back home but I believe that we are the same “level” hospital, we are both level 3. How you explain resilience. These kids are in a completely different environment and by having a room that allows enough room for the family to support their child. I loved the education for the MRI was so great that type of education really helps the children understand the process and helps them feel more comfortable about what is going on.

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  5. Kamia,

    I agree with your statement that Ashville seemed to be more of a tourist town. This might be because all we did there were the ‘touristy’ things- like Starbucks and Biltmore. I thought this area definitely seemed of a higher economic class than Cherokee and the surrounding areas. I also agree with your statement that Mission Children’s made caring for children look fun. Everyone seemed very upbeat and excited to be there, which is what those sick kids need during that time in their life.

    -Haley

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  6. Kamia,
    I would have loved to have visited the emergency department because I could only imagine how big that unit was. I was very impressed by the NICU and made me want to work in a NICU like that after having the tour. The nurse manager spoke about all the details in the NICU and I just found it very interesting how much technology they. For example, they had the blankets with light therapy they could be bundled up in which is neat because we don’t have that back home for the babies. I liked reading the stories on the wall it gave insight on what babies they have taken care of and made it out of the NICU and became healthy babies even after being in the NICU.

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    1. Thank you for your response Yesenia! Maybe in the future we can go to the ER at Mission as well since they are making the new Pediatric ER.

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  7. Kamia,
    I agree with you that they really showed a phenomenal quality of care. One of my favorite parts of the whole pediatric unit was having a ‘clean’ area for chemotherapy patients or immunocompromised. I agree that the child life services that they offer were amazing. However, I did have one concern I had at the child outpatient. The nurse said that they give the children their favorite toy or cartoon to play with when going in for bloodwork or scary procedures. However, my concern was having these cartoons that they love, become a fear or reminder if it happens frequently. Great post for a great day we had!

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  8. Kamia,

    Mission hospital was huge! Although we were only able to tour those three units, I can only imagine how incredible the other units are in terms of environment and technology. The addition they are currently building looks like it is going to be amazing. I think Mission incorporates so many things that aid to creating a great hospital, not only to be employed at, but to a patient at. The Reuters clinic was such a unique facility in that they had the staffing and equipment to care for children of all ages to keep them out of the hospital. I also thought it was great how both facilities incorporated the outside environment indoors whether it was subtle hints in the architecture, the painting and interior design and the views from the windows in the patient rooms. I agree with you in that teaching kids through play and example is a great way to better connect with them so they understand better. That was the first time I had seen a play MRI table to show kids how it works and i thought that was really neat. Great post!

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