North Dakota Nice: Caps for Kids

Do you like to sew (or can you wield a scissors)?  Do you like kids?  Are you ready to start your day off feeling great?  Thank you to Mavis Fayette for this wonderful story about a group of volunteers working wonderfully to make surgery more comfortable for children.  And guess what – the group is recruiting!  Read on to learn more:

The Surgical Procedural Care Unit (SPCU) at Altru in Grand Forks, North Dakota sees hundreds of patients each week of all ages.  Amongst these patients is one of the most vulnerable populations; our children.  For many children, this may be their first experience in a hospital setting where their fear and anxiety are very real.    In order to help alleviate some of this fear and anxiety, our staff tries to make it a welcoming environment.  We give each child a handmade surgical cap made out of fun fabrics to wear during their procedure.  The kids can choose the cap they want which gives them some control in the new and stressful situation.  The cap is then theirs to take home with them.  These surgical caps have been made especially for us through donations of material and time for which we are very grateful.

Caps for Kids began when my manager shared a video with me of someone making the caps.  Easy instructions were included for a simple, yet therapeutic, idea.  I’m always looking for ways to make the process less stressful for our younger patients.  If the kids are more comfortable, then their parents have less anxiety as well.    I loved the idea and shared it with our staff who agreed it was something to look into that could be beneficial for our patients.  I immediately got the ball rolling to see if we could do such a project here.

At this time we have already had at least 100 caps made that have been given to children.  We hope to continue having them made in order to cover all our pediatric patients each year.  Using money I received from the Altru Health Foundation, I bought material with popular characters and objects that kids can relate to and love.  Fun prints make all the difference when it comes to distracting and entertaining the kids.  Spiderman, dinosaurs, trucks, PAW Patrol are just a few of the popular choices that provide a little added comfort in a new and scary situation.  The surgical caps require very basic sewing and each cap takes about 10 minutes to complete.  Marcia Wehe volunteered her time and energy to start off making the caps for us.  She has since recruited the United Lutheran Church quilters and ULCW to make more.  We are extremely thankful for their time and talents.

Our goal is to make our youngest population a little less anxious when setting the foundation for future healthcare needs.

If you are interested in helping, we would love to have your support.  I can be contacted here.

Thank you, thank you, Mavis and all for this important (and warm) program! And thank you to Marcia Wehe for the fabulous photos!