TCU Recognized with Community Involvement Award

A day at the beach may seem like the perfect childhood activity but for residents of Children’s Hospital’s Transitional Care Unit (TCU), going to the beach was just a dream until four years ago. That’s when Mary, whose son Zarren was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy and is cared for on the TCU, helped initiate the idea. In the fall of 2006, Children’s Hospital was recognized by the Virginia Health Care Association (VHCA), a member organization representing nearly 300 licensed nursing and assisted-living facilities in the Commonwealth, for its efforts in organizing the annual beach trip.

“Our TCU programming strives to create an environment that maximizes each child’s potential,” said Sharon Darby, Children’s Hospital’s Vice President, Clinical Operations and Chief Nursing Officer. “We have seen firsthand the many benefits of developmentally-appropriate programming at this level of care and continue to work on creating these opportunities both within the hospital and the community.”

The VHCA’s D.A. “Woody” Brown Community Involvement Award recognized the hospital for its efforts in creating and implementing an effective and beneficial community involvement program and named the beach trip the top program in the special programs category organized by a facility with less than 100 beds. Each spring, with funding from American Family Fitness, Children’s Hospital coordinates the Virginia Beach trip for up to 15 TCU residents.

Zarren enjoyed the first trip with his mother and sister in 2003 and now looks forward to his travels each May. He was even able to splash in the ocean with the help of a respiratory therapist who used a resuscitator bag attached to his tracheostomy tube for breathing since his portable ventilator is unable to get wet.

In addition to the beach trip, TCU residents participate on the TCU Rollers bowling team during the fall and winter. Established in 1999, the TCU Rollers participated in the Special Olympics that year, marking the first time a team from a transitional care facility competed with Special Olympics athletes and the first time a ventilator-dependent child participated in a local event. With the support of nurses, respiratory therapists, hospital teachers and specialists in recreation and rehabilitative therapy, TCU residents also attend school and participate in many community outings and activities such as attending plays and movies and visiting local attractions like the Science Museum of Virginia and the Children’s Museum of Richmond.

Open since 1999, Children’s Hospital’s TCU offers skilled nursing care for infants, children and adolescents who are technology dependent and require routine use of a medical device. The TCU currently provides care to 23 residents and will expand the unit to 47 beds by early 2008. In addition, a new Children’s Hospital study is underway related to the preparedness of adult long-term care facilities in Virginia to meet age-appropriate needs of young adults.

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