Keeping children comfortable while we provide them the highest-quality of care is our priority. At HSHS St. Vincent Children’s Hospital, the area’s only dedicated pediatric procedural sedation program is designed to provide children and their families with the highest level of comfort during medical procedures.
Families are often allowed in the room during the sedation and sometimes the procedure, providing even more comfort to the patient and family. Families are told exactly what they can expect to see and experience ahead of time, and to further ensure comfort, children return to the room in which they were sedated to recover from the procedure. This reduces confusion and anxiety for a child who may have otherwise been sedated in one room, had the procedure in another room and then woke up in an unfamiliar location.
The pediatric procedural sedation program includes a team of a specially-trained doctors, nurses and child life specialists who work together to:
- Evaluate and determine the best sedation method.
- Provide distraction and comfort techniques for the patient prior to sedation and during procedures.
- Administer the medicine for sedation.
- Monitor the patient closely prior to the sedation, during the procedures, and throughout recovery from sedation.
Throughout the procedure, the highly trained and experienced sedation team closely monitors the child’s vital signs. Once the procedure is complete, the child is monitored until he or she is fully awake.
As a member of the Pediatric Sedation Research Consortium, HSHS St. Vincent Children’s Hospital collaborates with other hospitals and universities across the United States to better understand and improve the process of pediatric sedation and sedation outcomes for all children.
Child Life Can Help
If you are concerned about how to discuss any of this with your child, Child Life Specialists at HSHS St. Vincent Children’s Hospital can help. They are trained to teach children and families the skills it takes to cope with a hospitalization. Child Life Specialists can help children and families prepare for the experience by using medical play, age-appropriate explanations and comfort measures. If you are interested in speaking or meeting with a Child Life Specialist, call 920-433-8641 or notify your child’s doctor.
