We know child life makes a large impact on the use of hospital resources, patient satisfaction, and reported levels of pain and anxiety, and a recent study confirms that the presence of a Certified Child Life Specialist has major impact on benzodiazepine use for children in the perioperative setting.
A new study ("Integration of Certified Child Life Specialists to Decrease in Periprocedural Benzodiazepine Use: A Pilot Study") evaluated the integration of CCLS in our perioperative setting on the rate of benzodiazepine use in a total of 2175 pediatric patients in same day surgery. During this period, midazolam use decreased by an average of 11.4% (range 6.2%-19.3%). An even greater effect was seen in the radiologic group with 73% reduction. No adverse events were reported during this period.
This research backs up previous studies that have found the same thing: CCLSs promote institutional savings. CCLSs improve the patient experience. CCLSs are effective (The Value of Certified Child Life Specialists: Direct and Downstream Optimization of Pediatric Patient and Family Outcomes).
Citation: Faulk, A., Power, J., Mejia, H., Dunnam, M., Dimmitt, H., Osborne, A., Flowers, L., Guilbeau, R., Yu, D. C., & Zagory, J. A. (2024). Integration of Certified Child Life Specialists to Decrease in Periprocedural Benzodiazepine Use: A Pilot Study. The Journal of surgical research, 298, 209–213. https://lnkd.in/g9KdFEMR
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