Pediatric Pain Management Program Brings Comfort to UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital Patients
Monday, January 3 marked the start of the comprehensive Pediatric Pain Management Program at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. The program includes the Rainbow Comfort Team, a consultative service for managing pain in children receiving care at the hospital.
The program was developed by Drs. John Stork, pediatric anesthesiologist and Anne Stormorken, pediatric critical care specialist, who serve as medical co-directors. The team is rounded out by two certified pediatric nurse practitioners, Kari Gali and Jenessa Thirion. In collaboration with managing physicians and with the assistance of the Rainbow pediatric anesthesiologists, the physician and nurse practitioner team will assess and manage pain in babies and children who have undergone surgery, sustained an injury or are experiencing pain as a result of their illness.
Using a multidisciplinary approach, the team works collaboratively with the child’s doctors to make sure that he or she is made as comfortable as possible. The team provides optimal pain management through pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic integrative medicine approaches and utilizes a network of child life specialists, art and music therapists, physical and occupational therapists in addition to psychologists, psychiatrists and a broad range of medical and surgical sub-specialists.