‘I have the biggest extended family’

Kelly Crane meets the lady behind the smiles and tears at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi.

Although we try to protect children from death and loss, many youngsters are forced to experience a range of losses in childhood.

For one special lady at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, explaining about death to a child can sometimes be part of everyday life.

And occasionally, on bad days, it can mean explaining that the life of a precious little one is coming to an end.

But luckily for Marie-Anne, a child life specialist at the hospital in Abu Dhabi, her job also means watching youngsters successfully fighting illnesses to become strong young adults.

Marie-Anne joined the paediatric department at the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City five years ago and, it is very safe to say, has certainly made her mark.

The once bare corridors of the children's ward are now dressed with colourful characters, giant stickers and artwork which is splashed across bright blue and purple walls.

A job that, for Marie-Anne, became a personal crusade.

And the changes don't stop there.

The transformation

The Canadian-born specialist has single-handedly transformed a disused courtyard into a playground for the youngsters and their families.

She made almost every aspect of the entire department child-friendly and even managed to secure artwork which was painted as a ‘get-well' for Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan when he had an operation in 2003.

Marie-Anne said: "Death is a very difficult concept for young children to understand.

They struggle with ideas like inevitability and the irreversibility of death. It is my job to work with the families and children to help them understand what is happening during the child's stay at hospital.

"I work with children who have diabetes, minor injuries, many who come through the Emergency Room (ER) and some who have life-threatening conditions.

"My job knows no limits but it is one of the most satisfying jobs in the world."

Child life specialists help reduce the stress and anxiety that many children experience in hospital and healthcare settings.

While the use of child life specialists has been mostly limited to hospitals, it is now more common to see them in paediatric physician and dental offices, outpatient clinics, counselling clinics and any other environment that includes a paediatric population.

The programme at the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City can reduce the stress experienced by children and families and enhance their ability to cope effectively with what's happening around them.

Marie-Anne is a professional who is specially trained to help children and their families understand and manage challenging life events and stressful healthcare experiences.

She is skilled in providing developmental, educational, and therapeutic interventions for children and their families under stress.

Marie-Anne said: "My job is like having the biggest extended family you could ever imagine. I meet children and their families on a daily basis and begin to form a rapport with them."

"Some children I have known for years and others I will meet for just a few days but my job is always fundamentally the same. I am here to make life as comfortable as possible for both the child and the family."

"The best part about my job is the relationships I develop with the kids. They never fail to amaze me and I love each and every one of them."

But, as with most things, where there's an up there's always a down.

"Saying goodbye to a child when they have passed away is heart-breaking," she added.

"I always feel like a carry a small piece of each child I have ever met in my heart but losing a youngster is the one part of the job that will never get any easier.

"But I work with the family to begin the grieving process and help them where I can. It is hard to let go."

The degree

Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS) have earned a Bachelor's or Master's degree, with an educational background that includes human growth and development, education, psychology, and counselling.

They are required to complete an internship programme and a rigorous application and examination process.

Child Life Specialists are certified through a programme administered by the Child Life Council (CLC).

Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) is the medical "Centre of Excellence" in the UAE. It's a modern, acute care institution that opened in late February 2000.

Services are provided through an in-patient facility and a large, outpatient specialty clinic. The facility's mandate is to provide secondary and tertiary care to the citizens of the UAE.

SKMC operates under the direction of the Office of Shaikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan who oversees a body established by the government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi to guide improvement in health services within the emirate.

UAE citizens often travelled out of country to the United Kingdom or the United States for health care.

However, with the opening of SKMC, more services and complex care can be provided within the country.

Staff members are recruited internationally. A large proportion of senior staff members come from Canada and other Western nations such as the US, UK, Australia and South Africa.

The teamwork

Marie-Anne added: "The success of my role within this hospital is largely down to the wonderful team I am a part of.

"We all work equally hard to make things happen and care for the lovely children who pass through our doors."

"I was recently granted permission to transform an empty courtyard into a children's' playground. They love it. It is somewhere for them to play in safety and a place which is de-hospitalised — so they don't associate the area with medicine, only play."

"The same goes for our play rooms. These are places the children feel safe and secure in and they go there to play."

"The reason for decorating the walls and rooms of the paediatric department was simply to give the youngsters things they can associate with."

"All these small changes can help make a stay at hospital for a child a lot more enjoyable."

SKMC is an acute care hospital with 223 beds presently in operation.

Next door to the inpatient facility is a large, multi-disciplinary outpatient clinic, with the primary purpose to provide specialist consultations on a referral basis and to allow ongoing care.

Emergency services are provided through a busy department, efficiently designed and staffed by consultants in emergency medicine.

Recently, programmes in primary care (i.e., family practice) and home care were initiated on a trial basis.

Marie-Anne added: "I can honestly say that in my 20 years in this profession I have never been bored. I work a lot of overtime because this is where I want to be."

"The children make my job what it is and it's the best job in the world."