For a Small Child, the Emergency Room is a Scary Place

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Nobody likes to go to the emergency room, because it usually means that either you or a loved one is hurt or sick badly enough to be considered serious.
Many times things work out just fine.
Maybe an allergic reaction needed a special medicine, a broken bone needed to be set, or a wound needed to be stitched up.
Injuries that can seem big to us are commonplace in an emergency room.
An adult understands what an emergency room is for and knows what to expect when you get there.
But what about a child? Sure, their fears might be calmed by a nurse with animal print scrubs, but do they understand the significance of why they are there? Even if they aren't the one who is hurt or sick, all of the machines can be scary, as well as all the doctors coming in to run tests on mom or dad.
All in all, the emergency room can be a very scary place for a child.
For a nurse or doctor, the emergency room may just be the office to them.
They slip on their Barco scrubs, punch the clock, and put in their time.
Sure, their work might be a little more high-stress than designing a website or working on a factory line, but if you do it day-in and day-out it becomes somewhat routine.
But to a child who has never been there before, an emergency room can be new and scary.
First of all, there are lots of people who are in pain, and may have nasty injuries.
There may be people rolling around in wheelchairs or stretchers, which may be another new thing for a child.
And even though modern emergency rooms try to employ bright colors and inviting designs, the whole place may have a cold, antiseptic feel to it.
It's no wonder a child may feel scared or uneasy in this type of environment.
Those fears are compounded if it is the child who is sick or hurt.
Sometimes a child will need to get blood drawn or an x-ray taken.
They don't understand why someone with a large needle is going to stick it in their arm-and why mom and dad are going to let them! And they don't get why they need to stay still while a large machine hums and rotates around them.
All they know is the lady in the cheap nursing scrubs is causing it all, and they probably just want to go away and get home.
Mom and dad can explain as best they can, comfort as best they can, and start their child on the road to recovery.
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