ECU Medical Students launch SurgiKids Program

A new class aimed at making surgery less scary for children has been introduced at ECU. Brandon Yarns and Nancy Shinouda, second year medical students at the Brody School of Medicine, launched the SurgiKids program last August,

The class is open to all children coming into the SurgiCenter to have surgery. The purpose is to show children what they can expect during surgery, in hopes of reducing their anxiety about the procedures.

The class is held each week on Thursday evenings. Yarns and Shinouda obtain a list of patients from the SurgiCenter each week, and invite them to the class. It consists of a classroom session and a tour. During the classroom session, the children are introduced to some of the things that they will see and experience during surgery, such as hospital gowns and stethoscopes.

"We allow the children to kind of play with some of the things they'll see when they come on for surgery," said Yarn. "We try to familiarize them and make sure they're not scared and nervous about the surgery."

"I think it helps them a lot," said Shinouda. "It kind of desensitizes them to a lot of equipment so when they see it again it's something that they've seen before and it's not so scary."

Yarns and Shinouda were awarded a North Carolina Schweitzer Fellowship to start the class. The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship was founded in the United States to support Dr. Schweitzer's medical work in Africa during World War II. In 1991, the Fellowship launched its U.S. Schweitzer Fellows Programs, through which students in health professions and related fields carry out direct service projects in underserved communities in the U.S.

North Carolina is one of 11 regions in the U.S. to carry U.S. Schweitzer Fellowship Programs, and there are only 271 Schweitzer fellows in the state.

Yarns came across the idea while working with a similar class and tour while completing his undergraduate studies at Arizona State University.

"When I came here I was interested in starting a program like [the one in Arizona] here, because that kind of program didn't exist at the SurgiCenter," Yarns said. "So we applied for the fellowship and they helped us make the connections that we needed."

Shinouda came up with the idea to apply for the fellowship. Already having an interest in working with children, she proposed the idea of applying for a Schweitzer fellowship to Yarns, in order to launch his idea.

"I like working with kids, I work in pediatrics … It was an opportunity to do something for the kids," she said. "I saw the Schweitzer program posted up and I had an idea to do something with kids, and I figured that since Brandon had already done that in Arizona, it would be a good project here."

After winning the fellowship, Yarns and Shinouda worked together to create the foundation for the class at the SurgiCenter.

"When you say, 'I'm a Schweitzer fellow,' people understand what that means and people are willing to help you out," Shinouda said.

They wrote a script for a DVD to be shown during the class, as well as sent to families who cannot attend the program, and created a coloring book for the children. The DVD shows the families what to expect on surgery day. Yarns said that although the program is geared primarily to the children, it is also beneficial for their families.

"The center is kind of strict and they don't let the families go back to the operating room," he said. "So we show the families the behind the scenes so they know what's gong on and what to expect."

Yarns and Shinouda worked under the advisement of PCMH Child Life Specialist Susan Sugg, as well as other nurses and SurgiCenter employees to tailor the DVD to the specific experience that patients have at the SurgiCenter.

The first class was held on Aug. 7, 2008. The program received more than 20 percent turnout of scheduled patients, an average higher than that of similar programs. Since that time, attendance has grown to about one-third of families who sign up for surgery, and Yarns and Shinouda have conducted weekly classes reaching hundreds of families.

Yarns said that parents have provided great feedback about the program. Families are given an evaluation form to fill out after attending the sessions.

"I was able to see that this type of program really does accomplish that goal of reducing the anxiety in children," he said. "I think that it's very important for kids to be prepared. There are a lot of studies that say that if you're honest and up front about what's going to happen and even what it may feel like that the kids do have a better surgery experience."

"The study shows that this program helps reduce anxiety of children coming in for surgery," Yarns said. "So the day of the surgery their anxiety would be less than kids that haven't had the class and tour, and this would actually help the healing process after surgery too."

They've also received positive feedback from the employees of the SurgiCenter.

"They have been providing us with very similar feedback … They can really tell a difference in the kids who have come in for the program versus the ones who haven't come in for the program."

Yarns and Shinouda also launched a Web site for families to learn more about the SurgiKids program. The Web site serves as the virtual tour for those children who are unable to attend the live class. The tour is located at http://sites.google.com/site/surgikid/Home.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.