Thursday, May 17, 2018
Growing up strong: Marshfield Children's Hospital provides a brighter future, today
Children are our most precious resources. As they grow, learn and succeed there are sometimes bumps in the road. When your child needs emergent or specialized care, Marshfield Children's Hospital, located at Marshfield Medical Center, is central Wisconsin's only dedicated pediatric hospital. Marshfield Children's Hospital is affiliated with Children's Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN).
Marshfield Children's Hospital Pediatric Unit is a 26-bed unit designed with our young patients in mind. We've created our very own small, central Wisconsin community to help our patients, and their family and visitors feel at home. We have board certified Pediatric Hospitalists taking care of our patients. We are the only Commissions of Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) in the state of Wisconsin. This allows us to take any pediatric patient for rehabilitation services after an injury or an event has occurred allowing them to regain their independence.
Our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is an eight-bed unit that provides the highest level of intensive care to critically injured or seriously ill infants and children up to 19 years of age. Marshfield Children's Hospital PICU has central Wisconsin's only on-staff pediatric intensivists, doctors trained to care for critically ill and injured children. We are the only level 2 Pediatric Trauma center in the area that is accredited by the American College of Surgeons.
Pediatric and PICU nurses have specialized training to care for all patients that are admitted to the hospital. Our Pediatric Intensivists, Pediatric Hospitalists and nurses work with Marshfield Clinic specialists to care for your child. Some of our specialties include:
- Cardiology (heart)
- Trauma (serious injury)
- Orthopedics (bones and muscles)
- Gastroenterology (stomach and intestines)
- Nephrology (kidneys)
- Hematology/Oncology (blood and cancer)
- Neurology (nerves and nervous system)
- Surgery
- Urology (urinary system)
- Pulmonology (lungs)
- Rehabilitation
- Child Abuse and Neglect
- Endocrinology
- Allergy
"Our extensive services allow us to care for critically injured children and be able to keep them close to home," said Jenny Halle, PICU manager.
Child Life & Expressive Therapies help set Marshfield apart
Our Child Life specialists minimize a child's stress and anxiety related to their care while enhancing their understanding of procedures and facilitating coping techniques. The specialists and children engage in age-appropriate, therapeutic and medical play to normalize the hospital environment and gain mastery over their experience.
"Our Child Life and Music Therapy team help decrease the stress and anxiety of a hospital experience for our patents and families while optimizing positive experiences," said Heidi Giese, Child Life and Expressive Therapies manager.
One of the newest ways Child Life is helping patients is by using virtual reality goggles. These goggles can be used in many different ways, pain management, distraction and coping during procedures. Recently the goggles were used to help a pediatric patient's body focus on a task while strengthening muscles helping them re-learn everyday activities like walking or throwing a ball.
Marshfield Children's Hospital Child Life internship program was recently officially accredited by the Association of Child Life Professionals.
Child Life specialists are funded by Children's Miracle Network locally donated funds to make the program free to patients from ages 0-18.