Becker's Hospital Review

16 PATIENT EXPERIENCE Texas hospital goes extra mile to help young burn survivors adjust at school By Anuja Vaidya Y oung children who have suffered severe burn injuries face challenges beyond the clinical and physical aer hospital discharge — including going back to school and facing their classmates' curiosity. Parkland Memorial Hospital's Regional Burn Center in Dallas is going the extra distance to help its youngest and most vulnerable burn patients overcome these hurdles with a pro- gram to ease their transition back to school. "[Severe burn] injuries sometimes require continued operations, these patients, the children, require long-term rehabilitation, they have physical challenges such as limited mobility and, of course, they have visible scarring, which changes how you interact with the public and how the public interacts with you," said Stephanie Campbell, RN, pro- gram manager for the burn center. "So that's really where the idea of helping kids get back to school with these injuries came from." e program isn't new — it was started about a decade ago — but it has had a singularly positive effect on young burn victims and their families, who are anxious about the chil- dren getting back to their regular routines. e program has three components: social skills training for the children and their par- ents, focusing on how to respond to questions from strangers or staring; the hospital com- municating with the school and giving insight on the child's recovery; and a 20- to 30-min- ute presentation in the child's classroom. Meagan Young, the burn center's child life specialist, works closely with children who are ready to re-enter school and travels with them to school to give the presentation, which addresses common questions the child's classmates may have: Where have you been? What happened? "We talk about how great our skin is and what our skin's job is. And then we talk about different types of burns, and then we talk about how the kid has been in the hospital and how they had a bad burn," said Ms. Young. "And then we talk about how brave and strong they were while they were in the hospital, and once we do that, we hit on how they can be a good friend [to the injured child]." During the presentation, Ms. Young also touches on how the injured child might look different now. e child can choose to participate in some or all of the presenta- tion, and many jump at the chance to tell their story. In some cases, they show off their scars. Each presentation is customized to accommodate for how involved the child and parents want to be. Severe burn injuries are fairly rare, Ms. Campbell said, so only around five to 10 patients a year need the program. But for the small percentage of parents and kids that the program touches, the overwhelming reaction is gratitude, said Ms. Young. "I always see the kids in clinic, and I'm always like, 'Well you're back at school; how was it?' and the kids are always like 'It's so great, I really appreciate it,'" she said. "And a lot of the parents and families have been super thankful and grateful for us answering these questions and helping them and their child get back into their normal routine," she added. e program lets caregivers keep up with children aer they've le the center, and it's rewarding and motivating for them to see a child get back to their life aer seeing them be so critically ill, said Ms. Campbell. "It's one of the more rewarding aspects of our job," she said. n Cedars-Sinai app collects patient feedback in real time By Andrea Park C edars-Sinai Health System is rolling out a digital tool that allows patients to complete short surveys throughout their hospital stays via text message, enabling care teams to address challenges and concerns in real time. The platform launched in a limited capacity at the Los Angeles-based health system in January, according to a Feb. 25 news release, and was designed in conjunction with Feedtrail, a healthcare technology startup that participated in the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator program in 2019. In February, Cedars-Sinai planned to spend six more months in the initial launch phase before rolling out the platform to more hospital departments. The Feedtrail tool updates the traditional model of gathering patient feed- back — one-size-fits-all surveys sent days after discharge — by texting patients short surveys regarding their specific circumstances, beginning hours after being admitted. "We are looking to obtain actionable, meaningful insights of what patients really want from us in the moment to improve their experience while they're with us in the hospital," Alan Dubovsky, chief patient experience officer at Cedars-Sinai, said in the release. "Using this new platform allows us to ask unique questions to different patients at different times. The feedback received will help us ensure that our patients have the most positive experience possible." n

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