Having a newborn is already tough, but when that child is premature and needs even more specialized care that can only be provided in a Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), that stay becomes even tougher.
Something as simple as a warm smile and an even warmer coffee or tea—and maybe a snack—can make the stay much easier for new parents.
Volunteers, with the support of Ronald McDonald House, are rolling out a comfort cart at the Peter Lougheed Centre (PLC) this month to provide that extra little bit of support for parents.
“A lot of the times you’re in the NICU, you have nothing. We were brought here either by ambulance or helicopter, and it’s so fast… all of a sudden, you’re not ready, you have no crib, nothing. You come out after a long day of drain, and just sitting next to your little one and somebody hands you a free cup of coffee. It’s almost shocking,” said Mandy Scott.
“We have no money, no extra funds, and we’ve lost our jobs because we’re now in the hospital for so long. Just to have a snack at the end of the day is just, it’s worth more than I would have known until it happened to me.”
Scott, a new mother, was the recipient of the care provided by comfort cart volunteers during her stay at the Rockyview Hospital. But with the addition of a new cart to the PLC, she said it was an invaluable addition to the hospital experience.
“It’s just a moment in your day when you don’t have to think about whether you’re going home with a baby, or not, as you’re in the NICU,” she said.
“You don’t know what your next day is going to look like. They can’t promise you anything, right? But they can promise you that when you come out, that there’s going to be a smile for you. Which is more than anything needed in that situation.”
A little bit of everything new parents need
The new cart at the PLC contains items like tea, coffee, snacks of all sorts, some items of baby clothing like baby toques, baby books, and toiletries.
Natasha Tiemftra, Chief Operating Officer for Ronald McDonald House, Alberta, said that the organization has a set of guidelines and expectations for each of the carts they provide to hospitals, but with some room to adapt them to local needs.
She said that just like the housing they provide families who are staying in hospitals for long periods, the goal is to take pressure off people.
“Families are incredibly stressed out. They’re at the hardest times in their lives. It’s unexpected often, so they’re here with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and they’re sitting in their room at their child’s side and that’s all they’re focused on,” she said.
“Really, at the end of the day, they do need to take some time for themselves. They do need to be able to grab that cup of coffee. Honestly, you’re sitting in that room, you’ve got the beeping, you’ve got the noises, you’re worried about your child. So, being able to come out, chat with a volunteer, have a smiling face, means a lot.”
Cart part of wrap-around health for patients
One of those volunteers, Colleen Davies, said that in her experience the cart is nothing like anything else on a pediatric unit ward.
“It’s not medical at all. It’s very warm, it’s calming, it has the expression of ‘I see you, I hear you, we’re taking care of you.’ So it’s very, very rewarding—mutually,” Davies said.
“I’m very, very proud to be a volunteer. The parents are in for a certain amount of time while their babies are healing and getting healthy. You build up relationships with families when they come out of the unit, and they see a face that’s non-medical—that’s a friendly face to say come on over share with me what’s going on if you want to.”
Despite the non-medical look of the cart and the care it provides, Nick Thain, Senior Operating Officer for the Peter Lougheed Hospital, said that it provides medical benefits to patients.
“I actually think bringing the volunteers into it is invigorating. It takes a village to get this work done. [Davies] provides health care with us, this is a team sport,” he said.
“To be able to do some of those full wraparound services, not just the clinical piece but holistically, it moves it from being clinical transaction to actually creating connections with families so that they feel and know that they’re cared for. And does it improve the healthcare experience? Absolutely. I think it does.”
The comfort care cart is set to operate four times a week, for two hours per day, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Saturdays and Sundays.
