When I was little, I was always scared of going to the hospital, because I thought I would have to get a shot. Whatever the reason, stress can be found everywhere in hospitals; doctors, patients, and loved ones all show high levels of stress in hospitals. Even other hospital work not directly involved with patient care "requires coping with some of the most stressful situations found in any workplace" (osha.gov).
I have been fortunate enough in my life that I have only had to go to the Emergency Room once. I was 7, my family and I were biking down to our neighborhood park. We decided to take a shortcut, which was an unpaved path. The front wheel of my bike slipped over an empty soda can (don't litter!!) and tossed me forward. I was crying, blood gushing from half of my face. We went to the Emergency Room at Meriter Hospital and I didn't stop crying. I cried about the pain, I cried about my shirt getting bloody, and I cried about being scared of the hospital. One of my friends came to visit me with her parents, and they brought me a stuffed unicorn. As soon as I got the unicorn, my crying slowed and I was a little less worried about all the other things because I was so excited about the toy. That day, I ended up getting 19 stitches and having a hairline fracture in the bone right under my eye, but hugging the unicorn brought me some relief.
This trip to the ER gave me the idea for my Girl Scout Gold Award project. I thought about hospitals and how much stress it can cause patients, especially kids. I reached out to Kari Hall, Director of Critical Care Services at UnityPoint Health Meriter to see what I could do to help pediatric patients. After discussing with her, I learned that although Meriter doesn't house pediatric patients, they provide care and support to at-risk pediatric patients. I thought this was a perfect group for me to help, as I imagine they face a lot of hospital stress.
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