In the presence of the healthcare teams from the Clocheville intensive care unit, and patrons, on June 20, 2024, Jacques Portier, president of the Tours CHRU Endowment Fund, inaugurated the new tools intended for the reception of children and siblings in intensive care pediatric.
As Jacques Portier indicated, “We chose to support this very innovative project, because it is important to take into account the anxiety-provoking aspect of an intensive care unit for young children. After the Caen CHRU, Clocheville is the second hospital to equip itself with such educational tools, which required three years of work. »
Reception: a full-fledged treatment
Nadine Fakhi, pediatrician in intensive care, recalled how “welcoming a child in a service like ours can be a source of anxiety. It seemed necessary to us to take into account its psycho-affective dimension, especially since hospitalization often causes the family unit to break up geographically. »
And to specify: “We tend to limit this type of service to the technical aspect of the machines. Following the study carried out by Florence Etourneau, our clinical psychologist, a multidisciplinary working group set to work to define and create tools to facilitate the emotional expression of children but also of brothers and sisters, and thus calm their fears. The quality of the reception in a pediatric intensive care unit is a care in its own right, fundamental for the success of an operation and the stay that will follow.”
To create these information tools, two artists worked in close collaboration with the working group: Anthony Mette, who made a mini 3D resuscitation chamber reproducing the child’s medical environment, and Audrey Cayla, who illustrated two small, very colorful comic strips, using soft and simple drawings, explaining in a reassuring manner his stay in intensive care.
