Hospital Hero app from WAKZ also to other hospitals

Reduce anxiety and tension in children under medical treatment. With this in mind, Nicole Donkel (pediatric nurse at Willem-Alexander Children’s Hospital (WAKZ)) and Charlotte Poot (doctoral student at the National eHealth Living Lab) created the Hospital Hero foundation. The foundation now stands on its own and has successfully launched its own app. The Hospital Hero app of the same name is so successful that it can also be used in other hospitals. The enthusiasm for this is great.

Of Hospital Hero application was designed by Nicole Donkel and Veronique van Noort, two pediatric nurses from WAKZ, the children’s hospital of Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). Since 2021, the free app guides children aged 4 to 10 in a fun and playful way before, during and after their treatment trip to the WAKZ. In the app, for example, they can already practice an action at home with the pet of their choice, such as measuring and weighing. Once in the hospital, the app offers a lot of distractions. Kids can search for virtual pets by scanning QR codes. These are hidden in different rooms in the doctor’s office.

Tailored to each hospital

“When we created the Hospital Hero Foundation, we immediately set ourselves the goal of developing an app that could be used by various hospitals. We find that the app really makes a difference in the hospital experience of our young patients. We are very happy to be able to support an even larger group of patients with rollout to other homes ”. Donkel says.

Since June of this year, Juliana Children’s Hospital in The Hague has been affiliated as a test hospital. “We were able to tackle small technical challenges with this, which means our app is now ready for a larger launch,” adds Poot.

Hospitals wishing to use the app can also register with Hospital Hero. “During a hiring interview, together with the department, we observe what the trip to the hospital looks like for the children and what examinations or actions are in progress. We then configured the app so that it really focuses on the hospital itself, “explains Poot.” This means that we use, among other things, the photos of the hospital and waiting room care and elaborate the mascot of the hospital. hospital in the app. It takes no extra time for the caregivers themselves, just a healthy dose of enthusiasm. ”

Good connection with the nursing trip for children

An important difference with similar initiatives is that the entire child care journey is central to the Hospital Hero app. “We look not only at the moment in which the child is in the treatment chair, but also at all the moments around it: before, during and after. Because if we look at how tense the children and their parents are, we think we can limit some of the tension there, “Donkel explains.

The app was made possible thanks to a donation to the ‘Smile’ project of the Oranje Children’s Hospitals foundation

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