+ A
A -
Tribune News Network
Doha
AN initiative first piloted at Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) last year has resulted in more than 1,300 parents of children requiring surgery being able to accompany their children into the operating theatre while anaesthesia is administered and their child falls asleep.
Dr Khalid al Jalham, director of the Ambulatory Care Center, said both surgery and induction of anaesthesia can be distressing for parents and children alike. He says having a parent present when anaesthesia is administered can significantly reduce the child’s anxiety. Recent research shows that when parents are present during the induction of their children’s anaesthesia, it improves the quality of the procedure.
Since the initiative was introduced in March, 2018, paediatric patients requiring surgery for ear, nose and throat (ENT) and dental procedures have been able to have their parents with them from the time they leave their hospital room until they fall asleep inside the operating theatre.
Dr Jalham says the decision to allow parents into the operating theatre was a joint initiative of the ACC’s Perioperative Nursing, ENT, Paediatric Dentistry, and Anaesthesia departments and was initiated to enhance both the young patient’s and parents’ experience.
“Anxiety can sometimes occur before surgery when a child has to leave their parent to enter the operating theatre, particularly among younger children. Since our first paediatric patient was accompanied into the theatre by their parent, we have seen a marked decrease in the level of anxiety of both children and their parents,” said Dr Jalham.
“A hospital, and particularly an operating theatre, is an unfamiliar environment for a child so having a parent there to reassure them makes the whole experience far less stressful. Parents who are involved in the surgery preparation process are often calmed after seeing that their child is in safe hands and will be well cared for throughout the surgery,” added Dr Jalham.
Dr Jalham called the initiative a ‘win-win situation’. He says in addition to helping reduce the anxiety level of both children and their parents, it also cuts down on the time spent in the operating theater because there is often no struggle with administering anesthetic when the parent is by the child’s side.
Speaking about the importance of the initiative, Professor Marco Marcus, HMC’s chairman of Anesthesiology, ICU, and Perioperative Medicine said that allowing parents into the operating theater also helps parents by giving them back some of the control.
“These are very young children who are still very much attached to their parents. Separating them because of surgery can be extremely difficult and since the start of this initiative, we have found that our expectation that the induction of anaesthesia is easier when their parents are present has been met. It has also helped the parents as it removes some of the mystique around what happens in the operating theatre. For many parents, the worst part is the loss of control and this gives some of that control back to them,” said Professor Marcus.
Dr Balakrishnan Ramachandran, senior consultant in anesthesia and section head of Anesthesia for the Ambulatory Care Center, says care teams meet with parents in advance to ensure they are fully prepared for their role in the operating theatre.
Doha
AN initiative first piloted at Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) last year has resulted in more than 1,300 parents of children requiring surgery being able to accompany their children into the operating theatre while anaesthesia is administered and their child falls asleep.
Dr Khalid al Jalham, director of the Ambulatory Care Center, said both surgery and induction of anaesthesia can be distressing for parents and children alike. He says having a parent present when anaesthesia is administered can significantly reduce the child’s anxiety. Recent research shows that when parents are present during the induction of their children’s anaesthesia, it improves the quality of the procedure.
Since the initiative was introduced in March, 2018, paediatric patients requiring surgery for ear, nose and throat (ENT) and dental procedures have been able to have their parents with them from the time they leave their hospital room until they fall asleep inside the operating theatre.
Dr Jalham says the decision to allow parents into the operating theatre was a joint initiative of the ACC’s Perioperative Nursing, ENT, Paediatric Dentistry, and Anaesthesia departments and was initiated to enhance both the young patient’s and parents’ experience.
“Anxiety can sometimes occur before surgery when a child has to leave their parent to enter the operating theatre, particularly among younger children. Since our first paediatric patient was accompanied into the theatre by their parent, we have seen a marked decrease in the level of anxiety of both children and their parents,” said Dr Jalham.
“A hospital, and particularly an operating theatre, is an unfamiliar environment for a child so having a parent there to reassure them makes the whole experience far less stressful. Parents who are involved in the surgery preparation process are often calmed after seeing that their child is in safe hands and will be well cared for throughout the surgery,” added Dr Jalham.
Dr Jalham called the initiative a ‘win-win situation’. He says in addition to helping reduce the anxiety level of both children and their parents, it also cuts down on the time spent in the operating theater because there is often no struggle with administering anesthetic when the parent is by the child’s side.
Speaking about the importance of the initiative, Professor Marco Marcus, HMC’s chairman of Anesthesiology, ICU, and Perioperative Medicine said that allowing parents into the operating theater also helps parents by giving them back some of the control.
“These are very young children who are still very much attached to their parents. Separating them because of surgery can be extremely difficult and since the start of this initiative, we have found that our expectation that the induction of anaesthesia is easier when their parents are present has been met. It has also helped the parents as it removes some of the mystique around what happens in the operating theatre. For many parents, the worst part is the loss of control and this gives some of that control back to them,” said Professor Marcus.
Dr Balakrishnan Ramachandran, senior consultant in anesthesia and section head of Anesthesia for the Ambulatory Care Center, says care teams meet with parents in advance to ensure they are fully prepared for their role in the operating theatre.
