June 6th

June 6^th

            Today’s hospital was amazing and really had the children at mind. They have several playrooms; toys that can help them get out of their rooms and get moving. They also had every room ready for emergencies because as we know when kids go downhill they go down quick.  They also had nice fun white board communication boards in the room to help keep the families updated. Not only did they have this but they had cheat sheets in the room to help the families understand things they might not. One thing that stood out to me was there was a sheet the family could look at that had common medications they might be given and what they are used for and common side effects. This can really help educate families because they might not always remember everything that is going on. I also really liked that everything was based on the child’s comfort and the comfort of the family. Since this hospital serves 18 counties and is really the only hospital the children can go to this can impact families in a number of ways. Parents might have to drive several hours to visit their kids and if they have other children at home or jobs they might not be able to do this everyday. This can really cause some issues with being there for the ill child and for your other family. Not only that but gas, food, and a number of things can cost money, not only the stress of the location but the fact that you have an ill child that is hospitalized creates a new stress that not everyone experiences.  This hospital and the Ashville Reuter Clinics all have a family center model. This means that they are concerned about how family and the children are being taken care of, how they are involved in the child’s care. They have places for the family to stay at the hospital, they have changed there rounding with all of the medical team to where it works best for the family and is not overwhelming. They also have a continuity of care, where they keep them in the same group, or can get all of there needs meet in one building. The environment in Ashville is not in a rural area like Cherokee, they have more equipment and resources available to take on critical patients. Not only that but they can take all people of all different cultures. They hospital looks more like a hospital and has not been designed around the cultural of the Cherokee. The thing that stood out to me was that each facility that we have been to really has the patient and family at mind and really tries to make the best working environment for the staff. They also had a continuity of care that not many places have and can take all forms of insurances. I have been impressed in all aspects of the facilities we have toured and this has really opened my eyes to what health care can be like and where some things can be improved back home.