Grade one and two students from St Kieran’s Catholic Primary School visited Mount Isa Hospital’s Emergency Department this week and discovered ED wasn’t such a scary place.
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Nurse Unit Manager Andrea Wallace said the school had been doing tours of ED for about three years now.
“It’s always a pleasure to see the excitement on the faces of the children,” Ms Wallace said.
“I know these visits are making a difference, as being a small town, we recognise our patients.”
“Once one of the St Kieran’s students came to ED as a patient and wasn’t in the least bit scared and said ‘This place isn’t scarey; they will fix me’,” she said.
Touring ED allows the students the opportunity to see the day to day happenings, Ms Wallace said.
“The school visits are interactive, so the students don’t just see the physical space, but they meet the staff, experience some fake blood and bruising, and meet Brian, our simulator man.
“They get to do some CPR and see inside the human body through ultrasound. It’s a great learning experience for them, and a way of familiarising them with the processes within the hospital, and making it a less scarey experience.”
Ms Wallace said it was also inspiring to hear the children say, “I want to be a Nurse or Doctor when I grow up.”
