Nine-year-old patient Olivia uses virtual reality goggles during regular blood tests to help distract her from the procedures.
The introduction of the virtual reality goggles is having a positive impact on Olivia and other young patients in the paediatric ward at Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital. Used as a diversional therapy when undergoing painful procedures such as catheter insertion and removal, blood tests and injections, the goggles help to take children to another world.
Children can select from a series of short-form virtual reality adventures from colourful underwater scenes where you can follow giant whale sharks to world travel with gondola rides in Venice and African wildlife safaris with elephants and lions.
“My favourites are the hammerhead shark and the lions. I just watched one on Ireland which was really cool, and I saw lots of animals, sheep and even a sheep dog!” said Olivia.
The response from parents and patients has been extremely positive.
Olivia’s mum Isobel said the goggles also worked well as a reward for Olivia for pushing herself outside of her comfort zone. “With Olivia being in hospital for extended periods, it’s good to have some fun things to pass the time as the days can be long,” said Isobel.
“The goggles have been really useful at providing distraction throughout uncomfortable procedures and improves a child’s overall emotional wellbeing whilst in hospital. Having the diversion enables the procedures to be done quickly which further reduces their distress,” said Emma Wooldridge, Paediatric Clinical Nurse Educator at Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital.
The purchase of the virtual reality goggles was made possible by a grant from the NSLHD and NORTH Foundation Grants Program to the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital paediatric ward.
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