Saleena has worked with the elderly, as well as psychiatric and dementia patients. After raising her family of one boy and two girls, Saleena returned to the workforce to retrain as a health play specialist — someone who uses therapeutic play to help prepare children for medical procedures and surgery, as well as inform the child and distract them, so that they feel more comfortable during their hospital experience.
Despite her years of experience, when she walked into her surgical day unit on the morning of 16 March 2020, she knew everything was different. Her planned appointments were cancelled and within days, most children’s services were reassigned to support adult services, and Saleena was deployed to the helplines to work with concerned loved ones. She started playing a central role in keeping families informed about what was happening inside the premises, as they were not allowed to visit their loved ones.
Since then, Saleena has continued to multitask, and is using her paediatric skills to assist colleagues outside of her area of expertise, including emergency medical technicians and paramedics, to ensure children are not fearful of them in their personal protective equipment, and can feel comfortable during their medical assessments. She is also working with managers to increase staff morale and validate their contributions, especially since many staff members have contracted coronavirus.
During these times, for Saleena, thinking about the impact on children has been critical.
“It is important to be positive around children and be as honest as you can. Use simplified language as much as possible and acknowledge their fears so they know they have been heard. Say it’s okay to feel scared and that you feel that way sometimes also — that way they know these feelings are normal for us all.”
