Program that makes needles almost nice

The prospect of being stuck with a needle for children, and even for adults, is not a pleasant one. New York Hospital Queens has developed a way to make this process more tolerable for their youngest patients.
The hospital’s Pediatrics Department has initiated the “ouchless” program. Through this program, a cream that numbs the skin is applied over the injection area of the skin so that the child will not feel the needle.
Dr. Joseph J. Abularrage, the chairman of the New York Hospital Queens Pediatrics Department, came up with the idea for the ouchless program with the goal of limiting the amount of pain a child has to go through.
“One day I was thinking about what happens to children when they come into the hospital,” he said, describing a child’s experience as being scary.
The cream, which is called LMX-4, is used for non-urgent procedures and numbs the skin within 15 to 20 minutes. It can be used for procedures such as drawing blood, putting in IVs, spinal taps and circumcisions.
The program started in the Pediatrics In-Patient Unit and then spread throughout the hospital.
“At this point, now anywhere you go in New York Hospital Queens, if you’re a child you’ll have a reduction in pain,” said Abularrage, who also said that the response from both children and families has been terrific. “I do not know of another hospital anywhere that is up to our performance in limiting pain for children.”
When Fresh Meadows resident Branca Toscano took her 7-year-old daughter Jennifer to the New York Hospital Queens Emergency Room, they were asked if they wanted to try the ouchless program when Jennifer had to have blood drawn. Although Jennifer typically isn’t scared of needles, she still responded well to the program.
“She was happy with it,” her mom said. “She thought it was pretty good.”
Children who will be undergoing surgery are given the opportunity to learn about what will happen during their surgery through the pre-operative familiarization program. This program also gives them a chance to meet the members of their care team.
Finally, children are given a coloring book along with being able to get meals off of a new “kid friendly menu.”
New York Hospital Queens is located at 56-45 Main Street in Flushing. For more information, call (718) 670-1231 or visit www.nyhq.org.