240: How to Stay Calm During Your Child’s Medical Procedures

In this episode of Child Life On Call, host Katie Taylor, a certified child life specialist, shares personal experiences and practical advice on maintaining calm during your child’s medical procedures. Katie recounts a traumatic incident with her daughter, emphasizing the natural parental panic response and how to manage it.

She offers three key strategies: getting informed about medical procedures, finding a supportive role during the process, and taking care of your own physical and emotional needs. Katie introduces the Support Spot app as a valuable resource, providing step-by-step guides for over 50 medical procedures.

This episode aims to equip parents with the tools and confidence needed to support their children effectively during medical challenges.

00:00 Introduction and Personal Story

02:30 Understanding Parental Panic

03:11 Managing Emotions During Medical Procedures

03:28 Empowering Yourself with Information

04:24 Finding a Role to Play

05:27 Taking Care of Your Needs

06:05 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

07:53 Support Spot App and Resources

09:24 Closing Remarks 

Meet the host: 

Katie Taylor is the co-founder and CEO of Child Life On Call, a digital platform designed to provide parents, kids, and the care team with access to child life services tools and resources. She is a certified child life specialist with over 13 years of experience working in various pediatric healthcare settings. Katie is the author of the children’s book, and has presented on the topics of child life and entrepreneurship, psychosocial care in the hospital, and supporting caregivers in the NICU setting both nationally and internationally. She is also the host of the Child Life On Call Podcast which features interviews with parents discussing their experiences throughout their child’s medical journey. The podcast emphasizes the crucial role of child life services in enabling caregivers both at and beyond the bedside.

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