{"id":115214,"date":"2024-09-23T09:56:22","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T14:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=115214"},"modified":"2024-10-01T13:08:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T18:08:52","slug":"department-of-anesthesiology-family-day-a-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/09\/23\/department-of-anesthesiology-family-day-a-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Anesthesiology Department Family Day a success"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You can\u2019t have a \u201cTake Your Kids to Work Day\u201d in an OR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Rebecca Aron, MD, associate vice chair of wellbeing in the UNMC Department of Anesthesiology, wanted to offer her department a similar, fun experience in a safe, controlled environment that would help family members improve their understanding of anesthesiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany family members don\u2019t understand what anesthesiologists and CRNAs do, and I thought it would be neat if we could create a program to show our loved ones what it is that we do when we go to work,\u201d Dr. Aron said. \u201cIt is such a range \u2013 from providing invasive monitors, to post-op pain relief, to managing difficult airways and performing perioperative transesophageal ultrasound.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department\u2019s first-ever Family Day was held on Sep. 14 at the Davis Global Center. Using the state-of-the-art clinical simulation rooms of the iEXCEL program, the event was planned and executed by a team of the department\u2019s physicians, nurse anesthetists and house officers and was geared toward both children and adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew I couldn\u2019t do it alone,\u201d Dr. Aron said. \u201cI had a tremendous response from volunteers and colleagues, who shared wonderful ideas that helped me to refine the details.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fun began with all attendees gathered for a welcome and introduction, followed by a rotation through several stations that ran simultaneously, providing different learning experiences tailored for children and adults. UNMC medical students were on hand to facilitate the rotations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family members visited multiple stations throughout the morning that introduced them to the wide range of services in anesthesiology, including providing invasive monitors, post-op pain relief, managing difficult airways and performing perioperative transesophageal ultrasound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was also a break room where children could design their own scrub caps, color or enjoy a snack in a quiet environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The volunteers at the various stations made an amazing experience even better, Dr. Aron said. For example, CRNA Melissa Smith served juice in \u201cblood bags\u201d at the IV station. Amanda Arnzen, MD, brought in a stereo to play \u201cBaby Shark\u201d \u2013 which has the perfect beat count for CPR and was a huge hit with the youngest participants. Several volunteers brought visual aids and teaching tools to make the experience more accessible to a lay audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it was awesome to engage the youth and show them that STEM is exciting, bystander CPR is key, and everyone can contribute to saving a life,\u201d Dr. Arnzen said. \u201c10-out-of-10 Saturday morning volunteer experience — and my family and I would love to participate again!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They aren\u2019t the only ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of people in the department ask when we\u2019re going to run the program again, because they want to show their families what they do at work,\u201d said Dr. Aron. \u201cI\u2019m excited to hold it again, and I think we can open it up to more people next time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Aron said one goal was to give the participants hands-on experience in order to gain an understanding of what anesthesiologists and CRNAs do at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur families could see what we do to help patients and why we sometimes have to miss important events or can’t make it home,\u201d Dr. Aron said. \u201cAnother potential benefit is encouraging our kids to explore and appreciate STEM and maybe get them interested in health care or medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An internal goal was the teamwork and bonding aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe worked together to come up with the ideas,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we got to meet each other\u2019s families and see what and how each other were teaching as we rotated through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohanad Shukry, MD, PhD, interim chair of the department, said the event was a success. \u201cThe Davis Global Center is a unique and amazing facility, and I\u2019m very proud of our team for taking advantage of it,\u201d Dr. Shukry said. \u201cPutting this event together not only strengthened the camaraderie among our colleagues, but it also gave families the opportunity to experience what their loved ones do at work and hopefully inspired them to follow in their footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Event planners and volunteers included:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n