Nurses create stuffed animals with recordings of loved-ones for patients with Covid-19

Michelle Vaughan is a nurse who was working in the Intensive Care Unit at the Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic. She described the experience as “incredibly scary. We’re incredibly emotionally impacted by this”. Everyday she was taking care of patients who were hospitalized and feeling isolated because they were unable to receive visits from their loved-ones. “All of us have this craving. It's human nature to want to be connected to your family, to those people who love you the most", she explained in an interview.

So together with Meagan Wright, clinical care lead nurse at the hospital, they decided to do something to help the patients and created Be There Bears. "We've always known that family is a crucial part in the care and the progression that the patients experience. But we didn't really know how much until we lost them." Maegan stated.

They called the patient’s family and asked them to send 20-second recordings with messages for their loved-ones. The messages were then transferred to small devices that the nurses sewed inside stuffed bears. With the bears by their side, the patients could hear the voice of their loved-ones whenever they wanted and feel comforted by it.

The response of the patients and their families has been extremely positive and Michelle is very happy with the results: “It’s meant the world to me. I can see that they’re connecting with their families. I can see that they’re getting a chance to feel their presence, and that has made me so happy.” And other physicians that work with the patients are also seeing the benefits on the well-being of the patients, telling Michelle that “once they play these bears, their demeanor changes, their attitude changes".

Adapted from: https://www.nbc12.com/2020/05/14/be-there-bears-bring-messages-family-co...
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