Teddy bear clinic teaches kids how to handle visits to doctors

With the help of two nursing students, the kids at Southwest Day Care and Early Learning Center now have a better understanding of how to care for their teddy bears and stuffed friends — and what to expect when they visit the doctor themselves.

Kaleigh Yanke and Cole Hoffart, third-year students in the pediatrics program of the Saskatchewan Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing program between Saskatchewan Polytechnic and the University of Regina, recently visited the daycare as part of the Teddy Bear Clinic.

The students taught the children how to put on bandages, use stethoscopes, use feeding tubes and put on oxygen masks.

There were also stations where children could have their animals examined with a stethoscope, look through a child-friendly microscope and give their cuddly toys medicine from a mouth syringe dispenser.

Other topics addressed by the nursing students included infection control, how to prevent disease, what happens when you go to the doctor and why you need a doctor.

Southwest Day Care has operated the Teddy Bear Clinic for more than 15 years.

“We run the teddy bear clinic so they feel less anxious when they go to a clinic or emergency room,” explained Breanna Kaytor, the course’s clinical instructor. “…(if) they meet a nurse, they (may) need to get medication or bandages.”

Nurses often administer medication in syringes. The fact that kids can play with toy syringes ensures they won’t be scared when they need one, Yanke said. By being able to play with all medical plastic parts, they will become familiar with the tools used in hospital or clinic.

Yanke and Hoffart both agreed that attending the daycare was fun and enjoyable, with Hoffart saying it was a new experience working with children while Yanke noted that they were great to play with and of to be around them.

“We’ve been doing this for a long time. It’s just so important to our center,” said Lucille Gilliland, executive director of the daycare. “We care for children with complex medical needs and special needs here. So it’s wonderful to have the nursing students there and share all their theoretical knowledge…

“It’s just really beneficial; we really enjoy it.”

The nursing students attend daycare twice a week for six weeks as part of their program, which is great because it gives extra support to children and parents, she explained. In addition, they have helped the daycare update their medical policies and procedures to better serve families.

It is “phenomenal” to have a male nurse in the day care center because that fact shocks most boys who have a hard time believing that a man can be a nurse, Gilliland continued. In the meantime, both students have done a great job teaching that nurses can be male or female.

“And also, some of our kids had very big surgery — open-heart surgery, things like that — so it’s nice that the nursing students come to us and work with us, and the kids become so familiar with it…” she added.

In addition to the daycare, there are other groups of nursing students at the William Grayson and St. Agnes schools. There they observe the age groups and observe the development of the students, Kaytor said.

“(This is) a different kind of nursing. People don’t see that side of nursing,” she added. “They think the nurses are just in the hospital.”