Ideas That Work: Tech for Toddlers

The hospital’s child life department also supplied iPads loaded with movies such as Disney’s Frozen and child-appropriate games, which children watched and played while in recovery. We noticed that the classical music and utilization of the iPads helped patients emerge from anesthesia quicker and nurses weren’t administering as many doses of pain medicine. It was clear patients and their family members felt less stress and anxiety during the recovery process. We also saw a 10- to 30-minute decrease in patients’ post-op stays. Because the results of the study were so successful, we reached out to the Andy Dalton Foundation, a local charitable organization that supplied the hospital with an additional 25 iPads, a docking station and a cabinet in which to keep everything.

 

Jenny Ingle, DNP, RN
Indiana University—Purdue University Columbus
Columbus, Ind.
[email protected]