Pediatric ICU

Generate a cultural product that improves the emotional care of patients in the pediatric intensive care unit: The work of the nursing staff who looks after the children in the pediatric ICU extends the strictly nursing work. Without any specific education in this field, they have to play the role of child and family psychologists, of teachers who help the children learn about their bodies and health, of clowns who entertain them and make them laugh when they are going through hard times and even of mothers and fathers when their parents are absent. This situation of emotional stress in a hospitalised child could be solved with additional resources, but unfortunately the crisis or the path taken by medical institutions has not managed to prioritize this issue. In practice, and in absence of specialized psychological staff, the mental health aspects and emotional care of the ill children and their families are managed by the nursing staff. This initiative explores how a cultural product can help dealing with this situation. The nurses, the patrons of the initiative have already identified the need for a narrative-based physical object that helps them manage the emotions and feelings of hospitalised children.