Children and their parents are finding their anxiety levels drop when they present to the Urgent Care Centre (UCC) at Cowes thanks to an innovative addition to the treatment room – a bubble machine.
Paediatric patients can be surrounded by bubbles to distract them from their condition and while they are being treated in the stimulating clinical environment.
The UCC has had the services of the bubble machine for two months and according to Nurse Unit Manager Linda Goltz, it’s already paying off.
“It’s a great distraction for distressed children who are in pain or feeling unwell, especially when Doctors need to physically examine them,” she said.
“While our staff take great care to make a trip to the UCC as least stressful as possible for children and their families, it’s a better experience for everyone if they are as calm as can be.
“That’s why the bubble machine is so beneficial. Everyone loves the fun and magic of bubbles, and in many cases children and parents soon forget they’re in a medical setting and ill or injured! It means the children can be treated sooner and return home to recover further or return to playing.”
Young Fletcher Wilson appreciated the machine when his mother Hannah Wilson brought him to the UCC recently.
“The bubble machine kept Fletcher distracted and entertained. It stopped him from crying and he was focusing on the bubbles rather than his toe while they were bandaging it up,” she said.