Gaming carts adds fun for dialysis patients
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Recently we went along to the Dialysis Unit at Nottingham Children’s Hospital to see one of our most recently funded projects, a set of gaming consoles.
These gaming consoles are used by patients across the hospital, but more specifically patients who are receiving dialysis or other treatment.
When a patient undergoes a dialysis procedure, this takes around four hours of their day, and most patients will have dialysis treatment three times a week. These gaming consoles allow patients to take their mind off their treatment and illnesses.
When we visited the ward, two patients, Ismaeel and Jordan, were using the games consoles. Staff noted that when both boys first started receiving their treatment, they seemed shy and understandably overwhelmed by it all. The gaming consoles allowed them to socialise with other patients, and they regularly play FIFA 2022 together.
The unit treats patients from all areas including Lincolnshire and Norfolk, and quite regularly becomes a second home for these patients and their families. This technology allows the patients to feel at ease and at home whilst they are here.
Shelley Jepson, Lead Nurse on Ward E17, applied for the funding for these gaming carts. She told us: “We are really grateful to Nottingham Hospitals Charity for funding our two new gaming carts. The carts are great for occupying and distracting children and young people during their time in hospital as they have such a wide variety of games and activities installed on them. Although we provide TVs and DVDs, these are not always age appropriate and don’t have the same choices as the gaming carts.
“The other advantage is that young people can play games together or can connect with friends at home if there is Wi-Fi available. Parents and carers who are resident with their children are also able to use the devices during the evening when children are asleep as they have film and music channels installed – this is proving to be a really popular distraction during a very stressful time.”
Read more about some of the other projects we’ve funded below.