Putting the Ho Ho Ho in Hospital
Donation protected
"Many times the children and teens arrive with only the clothes they are wearing. They aren’t permitted to bring in anything. Though parents can supply them with clothes, some kids in traumatic situations just don’t have either the items or the support. A closet of donated used clothing, stacked by sizes, helps to fill in the gaps.
Patients stay in clean rooms stripped bare of all but essential furnishings. The stark rooms are necessary, since clinically depressed teens have found ways to turn most objects into weapons to use against themselves. Even the tops of the bathroom doors are cut on a slant to prevent hanging attempts." - Luanne Riffe of The Roanoke Times from her article The forgotten ward: Mentally ill kids need toys, too from Nov. 2015.
I spent the past week of my clinical rotation working in the pediatric psychiatric and behavioral health inpatient unit at the hospital. The unit has 14 beds and admits children ages 5-17. Every bed is almost always filled, and the average length of stay is 5 days.
Most, if not all of these children, do not anticipate receiving any gifts on Christmas. Funds raised from this campaign would be used to purchase gifts for children who will be patients on and around Christmas. Ideally, we would like to be able to purchase one toy for each child from their Christmas list. If all needs have been met, the remaining funds will be used to purchase items on a Wish List for the unit that was compiled by the nurses.
Some of the items on the Wish List from the nurses included:
- Sport bras with no underwire (the wire could be removed and used for self-harm so girls who arrive with only underwire bras would have to have to go with out if the donation closet is empty)
- Pajama pants with no strings (the strings could be removed and used for self-harm)
- Long sleeve t-shirts (many children come in with only t-shirts and the long sleeves can cover up scars from self-harming behaviors)
- Stuff animals (due to infection control policies children are not allowed to bring blankets or stuff animals from home. These are really great to distribute to some of the younger patients who are missing home)
- Headphones with smaller earbuds for younger patients
- Board games, cards/Uno, and puzzles
- Up-to-date G-rated movies
- Wii and X box controllers
- radio
- DS or DS games
Photo courtesy of The Roanoke Times.
PIctures of the patients rooms. Note how the rooms are stripped of anything that could potentially be used for self-harm.
Photo courtesy of The Roanoke Times.
The donation closet staff uses to distribute to patients who may come from traumatic situations with only the clothes on their backs.
Patients stay in clean rooms stripped bare of all but essential furnishings. The stark rooms are necessary, since clinically depressed teens have found ways to turn most objects into weapons to use against themselves. Even the tops of the bathroom doors are cut on a slant to prevent hanging attempts." - Luanne Riffe of The Roanoke Times from her article The forgotten ward: Mentally ill kids need toys, too from Nov. 2015.
I spent the past week of my clinical rotation working in the pediatric psychiatric and behavioral health inpatient unit at the hospital. The unit has 14 beds and admits children ages 5-17. Every bed is almost always filled, and the average length of stay is 5 days.
Most, if not all of these children, do not anticipate receiving any gifts on Christmas. Funds raised from this campaign would be used to purchase gifts for children who will be patients on and around Christmas. Ideally, we would like to be able to purchase one toy for each child from their Christmas list. If all needs have been met, the remaining funds will be used to purchase items on a Wish List for the unit that was compiled by the nurses.
Some of the items on the Wish List from the nurses included:
- Sport bras with no underwire (the wire could be removed and used for self-harm so girls who arrive with only underwire bras would have to have to go with out if the donation closet is empty)
- Pajama pants with no strings (the strings could be removed and used for self-harm)
- Long sleeve t-shirts (many children come in with only t-shirts and the long sleeves can cover up scars from self-harming behaviors)
- Stuff animals (due to infection control policies children are not allowed to bring blankets or stuff animals from home. These are really great to distribute to some of the younger patients who are missing home)
- Headphones with smaller earbuds for younger patients
- Board games, cards/Uno, and puzzles
- Up-to-date G-rated movies
- Wii and X box controllers
- radio
- DS or DS games
Photo courtesy of The Roanoke Times.
PIctures of the patients rooms. Note how the rooms are stripped of anything that could potentially be used for self-harm.
Photo courtesy of The Roanoke Times.
The donation closet staff uses to distribute to patients who may come from traumatic situations with only the clothes on their backs.
Organizer
Mia Mac
Organizer
Roanoke, VA
