When I was in high school, I was a highly competitive ice hockey player, fully expecting to compete in college....

When a child is scheduled for a surgical procedure — even a quick and routine tympanostomy or tonsillectomy — the experience can leave parents rife with anxiety....

How do you get kids comfortable with the idea of going under the knife? You give them a glimpse into the operating room, making sure there are plenty of teddy bears to go around....

A proposal in California that would have expanded the scope of practice for optometrists in the state was passed by the state legislature, but Gov. Gavin Newsom effectively vetoed the bill by failing to sign it before it expired on Sept. 30....

No provider wants their patients to feel nauseous in recovery, but the importance of preventing one of surgery’s most dreaded complications seems a bit higher when children are involved — especially because kids are twice as likely as...

The Medical Play Distraction Therapy program at Shriners Children’s Lexington (SCL), Ky., doesn’t end when pediatric patients are discharged. Parents are instructed to contact the recreational therapist who worked with...

Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., recently opened the Pediatric Surgical Operating Complex, a $110 million, 24,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility where surgeons perform cardiothoracic, neurologic,...

Change is difficult, especially in health care. Even if an idea sounds easy to implement, getting the effort off the ground and your team on board can be the hardest part. But this didn’t deter Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center...

The admittedly strong-armed tactic from orthopedic surgeon Randy G. Delcore, MD, to the anesthesiologists who practice at Cedar Orthopaedic Surgery Center came in 2013. “I essentially issued a mandate and said, ‘You’re not coming to my facility..."

When pediatric surgeries began ramping up at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, the anesthesia and nursing teams wanted to be sure young patients felt comfortable in their care. “One CRNA mentioned that...

Sometimes all it takes to put younger patients at ease before surgery is a friend — a furry one they can squeeze to death in the OR and take home with them after the procedure is over. That’s the idea behind...

Pediatric patients who undergo procedures at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis are given Worry Monsters, adorable homemade stuffed animals that help them deal with the stress of surgery....

 One of the common misconceptions providers have when caring for pediatric patients is thinking they’re little adults who can be treated with scaled-down versions of...