Christmas came early to Paediatrics!

Clown noses...always a hit!

On Friday we decided to spend the day on the paediatric ward playing with the patients and family members. They had just moved into their newly renovated ward so we thought it was a perfect time to help decorate for Christmas. Now we know that most children here have never seen snowflakes, but we had limited supplies to make decorations, so we made paper snowflakes. We had to explain to them what snowflakes actually are since nobody here has seen snow! The children, and their family members, were amazed to see how a piece of paper could turn into something so beautiful!! Then we had the children color paper and one of the family members cut the paper into strips….Yes you guessed it, we made a huge paper chain to string across the ward. Truthfully it reminded Lianne of Candy Cane Lane in Prince George!

Lianne teaching the families to make chains, and blowing bubbles for the kids...

We also busted out the bubbles and clown noses, and as usual they were a hit and brought huge smiles to the faces of all the children and their families. Seeing those smiles is the most rewarding part about working here. Knowing that for even just in that moment you are helping them to forget about their troubles, and allow them to be children and parents. It was truly amazing to see how a few hours of fun can make a child forget about the pain and suffering they are enduring. This was the message that we wanted to show our nursing students. They took part in decorating and playing with the kids and we wanted them to see how therapeutic playing can be. This is the essence of paediatric nursing!!

Jess with one of the cutest patients (actually they are all cute)