BREATHE EASY Five-year-old Jaidyn shows off her decorated mask.

PRE-OP ANXIETY IN KIDS
Stickers Make Anesthesia Masks Less Scary

Our pediatric outpatient surgeries use mask induction first, then IV placement after the patients are asleep. Even with the oral Versed we administer beforehand, the mask can still intimidate kids, especially after they've been separated from their parents and rolled into the OR. So as part of our pre-op teaching, we give our 3-to-12-year-old patients a disposable anesthesia mask that they can see and hold and practice with. They can try it on over their nose and mouth, then decorate it with little stickers while they wait. We don't always use the stickered masks in procedures — some anesthesia providers have everything set up by the time patients get there — but the masks are a neat souvenir.

Marci Lewin, RN, BSN
Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel
Portland, Ore.
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