Keeping COVID-positive kids connected not easy, but it’s this Child Life specialist’s job

Over the last year, Aimee Shipp has adjusted to social distancing by using whiteboard markers to play tic tac toe on the windows outside of rooms and using iPads with FaceTime to talk with the young patients at Valley Children’s Hospital.

“We’ve gotten creative,” Shipp, a Child Life specialist, said.

But that’s not to say it hasn’t been a rough year.

“It’s very difficult for us because we’re very involved with our patients. We’re up close. We’re up in their face. We’re supporting them through difficult or traumatic things. So pulling away from that, the core of our profession, is very difficult.”

Shipp has been a Child Life specialist on Starship Apollo, one of the hospital’s inpatient units, for a decade. Apollo has 36 beds to care for respiratory patients, including those with asthma, cystic fibrosis, bronchitis, and even COVID-19.

As part of the Child Life program, which celebrated its 50th year at Valley Children’s last year, Shipp helps normalize patients’ hospital experience by explaining medical procedures in age-appropriate ways and through play and connectedness with others.

Because she works with respiratory patients, Shipp has seen a lot of COVID-19 cases come through Apollo. But until late February, she and her colleagues were not allowed to enter a COVID-19 positive patient’s room.

“These kids are scared,” she said, “especially the ones that are old enough to know about COVID and know that people are really sick and losing their lives to it. To know that you can’t go in there and provide that service directly to that patient has been difficult, so we’ve had to make adjustments in terms of, ‘OK if we can’t do this in-person, what’s the next best thing?’”

Shipp, who has received the vaccine, said Child Life specialists can now see COVID patients in-person. She credits this change to vaccines, down-trending cases in the region, and more personal protective equipment available than at the start of the pandemic.

She said humans crave connection, and “that connection is even more heightened when we’re scared, or we’re not feeling well.”

She said children, especially, need that closeness, whether it’s with a parent or a care provider.

“So much of the work that we do as Child Life specialists is real up close in their personal space,” she said. “Helping them get through, whether it’s an IV start, or a lab draw or a dressing change,” she said. “You can’t support a kid from six feet away for an IV start. It’s just not the same.”

Because of the coronavirus, the program has also had to change the way it receives donations. The public used to be able to bring in toys, clothes, and games.

The program is still asking for monetary donations, which can be done online or by calling 559-353-7100. And now, donors can purchase items off an Amazon wish list.

‘I have a purpose’

Shipp says, despite the challenges, “it truly is an honor to be a part of such a scary and traumatic time in the lives of these families, of the patient. That’s what gets me through the hard days.”

Over the 10 years she’s been on Apollo, she’s gotten to watch some of the kids grow up, she said.

And there have been many days with wonderful moments, too.

“Like a light bulb moment with a kid, or when they really understand their diagnosis or they can finally get through a blood draw without having a difficult time,” she said. “Those are the things that drive me, and that can make you feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the reason for this. I have a purpose in doing this, and I’m helping.’”

This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 12:01 AM.