Crown Making at Providence Children's Hospital

I had the opportunity to visit the Children's Hospital at Providence and do some crafts with the patients there. I brought along some crowns that we decorated together as we visited and got to know a little about each other. In addition to meeting with children in the play area/craft room for crown making, I also visited some of the patients that weren't able to leave their rooms for our activity. I visited children in both the pediatric unit and the pediatric intensive care unit.

The Pediatric Center is dedicated to providing a full range of services to infants through adolescents. They are committed to working with children, families and professional staff to create a comfortable setting to help families through the hospitalization of their child while maintaining the highest quality of care specific to each patients needs. A team of professionals representing many specialty areas offers their expertise to support families and the child throughout their hospital experience. They believe that families play an important part in the development and well being of children including their recovery from illness or injury. They understand that this is a stressful experience not only for the child but for the entire family.

I was so impressed by the work of the Child Life Specialists overseeing the care of the young patients here. Their genuine care and nurturing character was so apparent in their every interaction with the children. It seems to be such an emotionally demanding and yet rewarding job. I feel so grateful for all the care providers, including the child life specialists, at the Children's Hospital. It's comforting to know that Alaska's families as getting superior treatment and care. Even more so, I am thankful for my healthy children. My prayers are with all those Alaskan families dealing with childhood illness or injury.