Last week they were dancing in the OR, now with almost a million views on LinkedIn: the OR team of the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital in Utrecht invariably pulls out all the stops to put little patients at ease before putting them under anesthesia. When that turned out to be the well-known head-shoulders-knee-and-toe dance for a child, the OR staff didn’t hesitate for a second, and the simple dance was started. Going on LinkedIn the video giga-viral.
“What you see in the video is the moment just before the operation, when we do a check with the team,” says surgical assistant Audrey Wouters, who posted the video on LinkedIn. “The patient is already there, and so is her mother. It’s always overwhelming for children, so we do everything we can to make them feel somewhat at ease.” Although Audrey cannot tell anything about the patient or surgery for privacy reasons, she can confirm that it was exciting for this child again. “And she really liked the head-shoulders-knee-and-toe song and dance.” So that’s how it happened.
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Look in the ok
Audrey regularly posts such content on social media. Together with three colleagues I founded a Instagram account (@ok_wkz) to show you what our work entails. Everything in the OR takes place literally behind closed doors, so a lot of people don’t know what we’re doing. In this way outsiders get a picture.” The focus is mainly on the personal side of care. ,,Family or friends sometimes ask me: ‘What exactly do you do? Surgeon assistant: don’t you hand over a knife or tweezers?’ Yes, but it is so much more than that. And we try to show that.”
Moreover, things are slightly different in the workplace of a children’s hospital. ,,I also work in a ‘normal’ hospital, and that makes a world of difference. Of course, adults are also sometimes afraid, and even then a song is sometimes played, but preparation for the operation is extra important for children. That can make it less scary for them. Customization is crucial here. While one child likes a dance or song, the other prefers to watch a movie on the tablet or in a picture book.”
Comments
From a tour of the department to a dancing OR team: all kinds of things are discussed on the Instagram account, but the surgical assistant also shares the best content on her own LinkedIn. It is that platform where the video of her dancing colleagues goes completely viral. The images have now been viewed nearly a million times. “Bizarre”, says Audrey, who is overwhelmed by the reactions. Many people thank the team for their involvement, and for continuing to put the best interests of the child first, even in this impossible time. But as with any post that attracts a lot of attention, there are also critical voices in the comments. In this case, from people who don’t think the video rhymes with the sketched image of an overloaded concern.
Audrey finds these reactions annoying. “People don’t realize how much is involved. Many have no idea how many people are needed in an operating room. And those extra five minutes that we take to give the little patient a good feeling, we not only win back because it takes a lot of time to put an anxious child under anesthesia, but are also extremely important for the experience of the child. Surgery is never pleasant for young patients, but by putting them at ease in this way, we can spare them trauma. And that is our top priority.”
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