Doha, 20 February, 2019: An initiative first piloted at Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) last year has resulted in more than 1,300 parents of children requiring surgery being able to accompany their child into the operating theater while anesthesia is administered and their child falls asleep.
Dr. Khalid Al Jalham, Director of the Ambulatory Care Center, said both surgery and induction of anesthesia can be distressing for parents and children alike. He says having a parent present when anesthesia is administered can significantly reduce the child’s anxiety and that recent research has shown having parents present during the induction of their child’s anesthesia improves the quality of that anesthesia.
Since the initiative was introduced in March 2018, pediatric patients requiring surgery for ear, nose, and throat (ENT) and dental procedures have been able to have their parents with them from the time they leave their hospital room until they fall asleep inside the operating theater.
Dr. Al Jalham says the decision to allow parents into the operating theater was a joint initiative of the ACC’s Perioperative Nursing, ENT, Pediatric Dentistry, and Anesthesia Departments and was initiated to enhance both the young patient’s and parents’ experience.
“Anxiety can sometimes occur before surgery when a child has to leave their parent to enter the operating theater, particularly among younger children. Since our first pediatric patient was accompanied into the theater by their parent, we have seen a marked decrease in the level of anxiety of both children and their parents,” said Dr. Al Jalham.
“A hospital, and particularly an operating theater, is an unfamiliar environment for a child so having a parent there to reassure them makes the whole experience far less stressful. Parents who are involved in the surgery preparation process are often calmed after seeing that their child is in safe hands and will be well cared for throughout the surgery,” added Dr. Al Jalham.
Dr. Al Jalham called the initiative a ‘win-win situation’. He says in addition to helping reduce the anxiety level of both children and their parents, it also cuts down on the time spent in the operating theater because there is often no struggle with administering anesthetic when the parent is by the child’s side.
“We are glad that parents have embraced this initiative, which is evident through their willingness to be a part of their child’s surgery journey. This initiative was introduced to transform the process of preparing children for a procedure under general anesthesia. I believe that our team at the Ambulatory Care Center has not only achieved this goal but has actually gone one step further by helping to shape how a child feels about hospitals and healthcare facilities, which will impact their experience while they are with us and also in the future,” said Dr. Al Jalham.
Speaking about the importance of the initiative, Professor Marco Marcus, HMC’s Chairman of Anesthesiology, ICU, and Perioperative Medicine said that allowing parents into the operating theater also helps parents by giving them back some of the control.
“These are very young children who are still very much attached to their parents. Separating them because of surgery can be extremely difficult and since the start of this initiative, we have found that our expectation that the induction of anesthesia is easier when their parents are present has been met. It has also helped the parents as it removes some of the mystique around what happens in the operating theater. For many parents, the worst part is the loss of control and this gives some of that control back to them,” said Professor Marcus.
Dr. Balakrishnan Ramachandran, Senior Consultant in Anesthesia and Section Head of Anesthesia for the Ambulatory Care Center helped establish the program and says care teams meet with parents in advance to ensure they are fully prepared for their role in the operating theater.
“In the weeks or days preceding the surgery, both the parent and child are invited to our Pre-Assessment Anesthesia Clinic (PAAC). In the PAAC, parents meet with a senior consultant anesthetist and are given a written leaflet (in English or Arabic) with a detailed explanation of the anesthesia process. The parents are encouraged to ask questions,” said Dr. Ramachandran.
“On the day of the surgery, to minimize anxiety for both the parents and the child, pre-assessment information is again reinforced by the nursing staff, surgeon, and anesthetist. Once the child is asleep, our nursing staff accompany the parent out of the theater. Once the surgery has been completed, the recovery nurse then escorts the parent back to the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit where they are reunited with their child,” added Dr. Ramachandran.
