What is it?
Millions of children worldwide will experience at least one acute medical event in their life. The injury or illness itself may already be traumatic but what happens when the treatment itself is the cause of acute stress symptoms or PTSD? Healthcare providers everywhere are found in a difficult place where the necessary treatment for a patient’s injury or illness may be inherently frightening or painful and become a potentially traumatic event.
This training will lay a foundation for what medical trauma is and how it affects our pediatric patient’s development, health outcomes, and psychological well-being. It will also provide evidence-based interventions to mitigate the trauma that is linked to medical treatment.
This presentation is geared towards healthcare professionals. That being said, guardians are welcome to join us in order to gain some insight into what patients and families are able to advocate for in the medical system.
What will the attendee take away from this event?
- A definition of pediatric medical trauma including symptoms, contributing factors, risk factors, and long term effects.
- A better understanding of what trauma informed care looks like in the medical field
- Interventions to mitigate trauma for pediatric patients. Some of these interventions include:
- Developmentally appropriate preparation (learning accurate, easy to understand, and less intimidating verbiage to use with pediatric patients)
- Realistic and safe options that allow pediatric patients more say in their care.
- Family centered care and what it practically looks like
- Distraction techniques
- Comfort holds
- Adaptive care plans
Who should attend?
- Healthcare providers, caregivers, and first responders
- Physicians
- Nurses
- Nurse assistants
- Technicians
- Physical therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Child life specialists
- EMTs
- First responders
- Phlebotomists
- Students interested in any of the fields above
- Guardians of Pediatric Patients
Meet your host
Kathleen Boone MS, CCLS, TICP
Kathleen is a masters prepared certified child life specialist. Child life specialists are child development experts who are trained to aid in decreasing trauma for pediatric patients through increasing a child’s ability to cope with illness, trauma, disability, loss, and bereavement. In addition, they work to mitigate potential trauma in a given environment through advocacy and education.
Kathleen received her masters in child life at Azusa Pacific University and completed her internship at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in the pediatric and burn ICU units. In March 2020, Kathleen passed her certification exam and began practicing at Carilion’s Roanoke Memorial Hospital in the emergency department. Kathleen developed a passion for working with mental health patients while caring for them in the ED and began working for a pediatric psychiatric inpatient facility in December 2023.
Kathleen is enthusiastic about trauma informed care and prevention. She has worked on several quality improvement projects within the Carilion system to promote more humanizing and compassionate care. She is excited about continuing her TIC journey and sharing her experience and knowledge with others.
