K’Andra Thompson

Professor Leaphart
Health Narrative

Health Narrative
Hospitals have never been my favorite location. Whether it was just to pay a visit
to a sick relative or if it was me having to stay because of my asthma. As a six-year-old
child being inside a room with four cream walls, machines that beeps every second, and
only having six channels did not sound like a fun time.
One morning in Mannheim Germany I was laying above my sister on the top
bunk snoring the paint off of the walls, at least that is what it sounded like. In reality I
was struggling to breathe like a fish that is taken out of water. I was having a severe
asthma attack. My mom rushed into the room screaming for my dad to call the
ambulance. I panicked. That is when everything went black.
I remember waking up with my dinosaur breathing mask on my face, a pulse
oximetry on my finger, machines beeping, and my parents sitting in the chairs beside
my bed. That is when they told me that I had a severe asthma attack that led me to
coming to the place I feared most of all, the hospital. Looking around my room I noticed
that my room did not look like the rooms I had previously seen when I went to go visit
my relatives. This room was bright, it had different cartoon characters drawn on the
walls, along with flowers and a big bright sun. There was a huge window that showed
the work traffic that was currently happening in Mannheim Germany. The tv that was
hanging from the wall was set on Cartoon Network showing the Power Puff Girls fighting
the evil momo jojo. My mom reached over and pushed a button signalling for a nurse to
come to my room. I remember seeing the nurse walk in. She had to be in her late
twenties. She looked to be around five foot three, she had a short brown haircut,
glasses, and her uniform was blue. She walked in with the biggest smile and started
asking me multiple questions in the softest voice. She asked me, “How are you feeling?
Would you like something to drink? Are you cold? Would you like another warm
blanket? ” I responded with a simple but awkward yes for each question, not really sure
what else to say back. I was confused why she was asking me so many questions when
normally the doctor would direct the questions towards my parents. She then proceeded
to tell us she would let the doctor know I was awake and she would make sure to bring
my apple juice and my warm blanket like I had requested.
When the doctor arrived at my room he asked me the same questions the nurse
previously asked me and received the same responses. He explained what had
happened and told me that I will be alright, but to make sure I had to stay overnight. I
remember feeling a tight feeling in my throat from holding in tears after him telling me
that I had to stay overnight. Not only was I currently in the hospital, but I had to stay
overnight as well. After the doctor left the dam that was holding my tears broke. My
parents told me that I had nothing to worry about and that they would be staying with
me through the entire night. After hearing those words I felt a little better but not one
hundred percent alright.
After my nurse delivered my apple juice in a plastic cup and my warm blanket
that felt like it had just come out of the dryer, my parents explained that they needed to
head back to our house that was on the big military post to make sure my siblings were
doing fine with the next door neighbor and to pick up some extra clothes since we would
be booking the hospital room for the night. The nurse explained that was fine and that
she would keep my company until they returned.
Watching my parents walk out the door and leave me in the room was very
scary. I did not know what to expect. My nurse saw the panic in my eyes and started to
make conversation about the tv show that was now playing on the tv. As if on cue
Courage the Cowardly Dog came on. One of the scariest tv shows I have ever watched.
She hurried and changed the channel to nickelodeon where Rocket Power was playing.
We started conversing on the show and how cool Reggie’s purple hair was. She
brought me some coloring sheets and we colored together. When it was time for me to
take my breathing treatment she made sure that my mask was a cute purple dinosaur
and she told me since I liked it so much I could take it home when I leave the next day.
She gave me my medication crushed up in vanilla ice cream just in case I did not like
the taste of the pill. Time went by so fast that honestly I didn't even have time to miss
my parents because I was having such a good time.
 When my parents arrived back at the hospital they brought back my favorite
movies and food from my favorite restaurant. We ate our food and watched Scooby-Doo
Spooky Island until it was finally night time. When it was time for me to get my last
breathing treatment before going to bed my nurse came in with a tan teddy bear that
had a red plaid bow wrapped around his neck and a hospital bracelet wrapped around
his left foot. She explained that this teddy bear was also sick just like me and he will
make sure to keep me safe during the nighttime. All I had to do was give him a big hug
and he would know that I was scared and that he would protect me.
That night I got the best sleep of my life. I was not scared at all with having my
new teddy bear friend and my parents right by my side. I did not worry about the
beeping noise or the commotion that was constantly happening outside of my room.
The next day I was actually sad to leave the hospital because I had such a good
time while being there. I waved goodbye to my nurse and gave her the biggest hug and
told her that I had so much fun playing with her. My experience at the hospital was not
what I expected it to be. I thought that I would have to sit in a tan colored room that had
only a few channels that consisted of soap operas and eat the nastiest hospital food.
Instead I got to talk about my favorite shows and characters, color, eat some of my
favorite German food from the cafeteria, and make two new friends. My nurse taught
me that sometimes the things we think are scary can turn out to be the complete
opposite.
When researching if interior design and having nurses interact with children with
things they enjoy had a positive effect on children that stayed in the hospital, I was able
to find a great amount of interesting articles to prove these two things are indeed
important when it comes to making sure a child has a positive experience while staying
at a hospital.
Interior design consists of the art and science of enhancing the inside of a
building to help achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for
people that are using the space(Montaner et al., 2019). This can include the color of the
walls to the furniture that you have in the room. One of my biggest problems with
hospitals was how dull the rooms were and how cold the environment seemed. With me
having the image of a hospital room it caused a lot of fear and anxiety when I had to be
hospitalized because of my asthma attack. In the article, Ideal physical features of
environmental design in children’s hospital: Using children’s perspectives, researchers
conducted a study asking children in a children’s hospital in Iran perspectives when it
came to the importance of the atmosphere during their hospital stay. They looked at
different components such as the window view, color, hobby, play, decorations, family
presence, structure of hospital, presence of nurses, furniture, and even the
lighting(Nourmusavi Nasab et al., 2020). From this study they were able to learn that
children prefer a hospital environment that provides entertainment facilities while also
having design features that have a presence of light, colorful decorations, conditions
suitable for their families to be present.
The results that Nourmusavi was able to find from the study seem to be accurate
when it comes to my experience during my stay at the hospital. My outlook on hospitals
was never the best due to my previous visits to visit family members. The rooms were
dull, plain, with one bed and one chair, with only a few channels to entertain the older
adults. Whereas, the hospital I was booked into made sure that the lighting was bright, I
had a big window to show me the busy streets of Mannheim Germany, the walls
showed various cartoon characters with bright colors that would catch a child’s
attention, a tv hanging on the wall that had channels to entertain a child my age, and
most importantly they had space for both of my parents to be able to sit in the room
comfortably with me. With having the appropriate interior design I found myself not
being as scared as I was before and less anxious when it came to the outlook of a
hospital.
Throughout the hospital there is so much commotion and busy nurses running
around. Most of the time the nurses are in and out of the room after completing their
tasks with little communication unless it is asking about how you are feeling. When you
are a child, adults are sometimes intimidating and it is hard to communicate how you
feel to them, especially if you are in a scary environment. I believe that nurse
communication is very important when it comes to taking care of children in an
unfamiliar environment. In an article, “Tangibot: A collaborative multiplayer game for
pediatric patients”, researchers wanted to find if hospital teachers (nurses) have an
impact on the communication and coordination when they participate in the gameplay.
This study included 20 participants who participated in playing games with a teacher
playing along with them. The results showed that a nurse does indeed have a positive
impact when it comes to the communication skills with the younger patients. The
patients felt comfortable asking questions along with just having a simple conversation
with the nurse.
The information presented in the article reflects the narrative above because it
shows that when a child is engaging in activities that they really like and are able to
distract themselves from their surroundings it can cause them to become more
comfortable with the hospital staff instead of being scared and intimidated by them. This
article related to my narrative because in the hospital the nurse was able to pick up on
how anxious I was when my parents left and I was there with just her. She immediately
directed my attention to something else to get my mind away from the events that were
happening. We talked about my favorite tv shows, colored, and played games. I was so
distracted that I did not have time to miss my parents. It turned into a positive
experience and I felt comfortable communicating with the nurse about pretty much
anything.
When it comes to younger children having a positive experience in a hospital
setting it is important that the interior design and the communication between the patient
and the nurse is strong. Having an appropriate interior design will allow the child to have
less fear and anxiety when it comes to having to be in an unfamiliar environment.
Having a nurse that is willing to put in the time and entertain you is also very important
because it allows the child to get comfortable with the adult figure and be willing to
communicate with them.
References

Montaner, J., Carrión, A., García-Sanjuán, F., & Jaén, J. (2019). Tangibot: A
collaborative multiplayer game for pediatric patients. International Journal of Medical
Informatics (Shannon, Ireland), 132, 103982–103982.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2019.103982

Nourmusavi Nasab, S., Karimi Azeri, A., & Mirbazel, S. (2020). Ideal physical features
of environmental design in children’s hospital. Facilities (Bradford, West Yorkshire,
England), 38(5/6), 445–466. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-03-2019-0032