Wednesday, April 25, 2001
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Wednesday, April 25, 2001 |
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'Bear hug' program helps youngsters at hospital By DAVE
HAMRICK
Sometimes you just need a bear hug. And that's what the ladies of Fayetteville Church of Christ are giving children in Fayette Community Hospital's emergency room. The "bear hug" program, as it is known among the church women, provides 11-inch, hand-made stuffed bears to children who come into the emergency room, and sometimes older adults benefit as well. Children come into the emergency room frightened, in pain, and confused, says Ann Van Remmen, pediatric RN in the emergency room. It's not enough to treat the little patients physically, she says. "We love this program," she says. "It helps make for the overall warmth and care that our pediatric patients receive. We love that we can always count on the supply of these bears being there and the heart that was put into them." The bears are used in a variety of ways, says hospital spokesman Ryan Duffy. Sometimes, the nurses and doctors have trouble examining a child who is upset. "If you've got a screaming child, sometimes it's hard to listen through a stethoscope," says Duffy. A bright cuddly toy can calm a child and allow the examination to go on, or can comfort one during the sometimes long waiting period, she says. Making sure that anytime there's a child who needs to be comforted there's always a cuddly bear available is not an easy task. Thirty-five teams of women cut, paint, sew and stuff the bears, and 17 women work alone, making whole bears a total of 71 women and two men participate. The program's coordinator, Betty Jo Nash, provides the final touch, tieing a color-coded ribbon around the neck of each bear. That's a lot of effort, but a lot of bears are needed. The hospital gave away 300 a month during the past year, the first year the program has been in existence. And during the Thanksgiving/Christmas season last year, more than 500 bears were given. Church members check regularly to make sure the ER never runs out of bears. The program is not original to the Fayetteville Church of Christ. One of the ladies visited a church in Florida, saw the program in operation there and brought the idea home. It's been in operation here for about a year. Duffy says from the project's inception, the church members have been ready and willing to do whatever was necessary to make it successful. "They were very careful to come and check with us to find out how to prevent infection, and learn about issues of health and safety ... they've just been great," she says. Hospital volunteers recently had a luncheon to thank the church ladies for the help they've received from the program, and Wal-Mart has been so impressed that the store has set up a monthly contribution to help pay for materials. "The responses from the recipients make this project worth the few cents and time it takes to develop it," says coordinator Betty Jo Nash. As for why the church ladies are willing to work so hard, Nash quotes Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (KJV).
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