Patient practice makes perfect

Sunrise officials use medical dolls to ease kids' concerns

Sunrise Hospital child life specialist Jennifer Justice carefully guided Kayleen Boyd's hands as the 4-year-old girl prepared to insert an intravenous guide needle into the hand of a 3-foot-high stuffed doll named Michael.

Boyd began her experience with social time. She had tea with Michael and his sister Michelle. After a chat, she sat the boy down on a mat and prepared him for his IV.

First the little girl washed Michael's hand with soap. Then she tied an elastic band around the doll's arm and felt for his vein.

"It's tricky," Boyd said as she tied the band.

"It's hard, right?" Justice said to Boyd. "But it's just a tight hug, Michael," the child life specialist assured the doll.

"It's really tight," Boyd agreed.

Once the little girl found the vein, she inserted the needle, secured the IV and then taped on an arm board to provide support.

"That was a really good job," Justice said. "Will he have to wear this when he gets home?" she asked the young girl.

Boyd looked down at the IV in her own tiny foot and said, "Yes, he'll have to wear it forever."

"No, no, he won't. The doctor will take it out as soon as Michael is ready to go home," Justice assured the little girl. "The doctor will take your's out, too."

Even a day attached to an IV can seem like an eternity for a preschooler. Justice said it's not uncommon for young children to assume the worst about even the most basic medical treatments. That's why she is pleased Sunrise Children's Hospital has added Michael and Michelle, a set of anatomically correct Zaadi dolls, to the tools child life specialists can use to prepare hospitalized children for treatment.

Boyd was on vacation with her family in Arizona when she suddenly couldn't walk. Her mother, Renee Boyd, said the preschooler was in pain and unable to stand. A quick trip to an Arizona hospital brought few answers, so the little girl was sent to Sunrise. Once she arrived, they learned she had a blood-based bacteria that had spread to infect her bones.

"It's something the immune system usually fights off, but for some reason her system didn't," the girl's father, Robert Boyd said. "She hates the needles. She's been poked 30 times since she's been here."

The new dolls can be used to prepare children for all varieties of treatments. The hands, arms and feet feature realistic veins ready for inserting needles and IVs. The male and female are both anatomically correct, which makes it possible for Justice to demonstrate catheters. Both dolls open at the chest and back with Velcro to reveal muscles, bones and vital organs. Kidneys and the appendix are removable and even the hair comes off to make cancer instruction possible.

While the dolls are soft-sculpture and obviously pretend, the medical tools Justice lets the children use are all real. She lets them experiment with real needles, tubes and wires in an effort to get them accustomed to the equipment.

Justice said many children develop a relationship with the dolls. She's even left them behind in patient rooms a few times. Each doll costs around $89, an expense the child life specialist said is well worth it for the comfort they bring.


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