USA Health celebrates Halloween
From Disney monsters to Silly String spraying bug busters, team members at USA Health dressed up to the delight of patients and colleagues for some not-so-spooky fun.
By Casandra Andrews
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At USA Health, Halloween can feel more like a national holiday than just another day of the work week – especially if you happen upon one of the events planned for the kids at Children's & Women's Hospital. From the tiniest patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to toddlers and teens, hospitalized patients and their siblings are given new costumes to make the season more special.
Other USA Health staff members at University Hospital, Providence Hospital, the Strada Patient Care Center, the Mitchell Cancer Institute, and medical offices across the region also took part in the fun by dressing up and sharing treats during the last week of October.
For families whose babies spend their early days in the region’s only level III NICU, capturing moments such a first Halloween costume can be especially meaningful. At Children’s & Women’s Hospital, nurses and other healthcare team members helped nearly 60 families mark their child’s first Halloween.
During Halloween and other holidays, NICU team members help coordinate photo sessions, which allow parents to capture images and memories they can cherish long after discharge. Many of the handmade costumes are donated by local knitting groups and former NICU families who chose to give back to the place that helped their children. Costumes for older children are donated annually by local Spirit Halloween stores.
Experts say commemorating such milestones can have lasting emotional benefits for parents coping with the uncertainty of a NICU stay. Celebrations promote bonding and can even help parents feel more confident in caring for their child once they leave the hospital.
“In our NICU, these celebrations often represent hope and progress,” said Rachel Stanley, RN, a nurse, and parent educator in the NICU. “When a family can dress their baby in a costume and pose with them for a photo, it’s a meaningful reminder that they are not just patients — they are growing and thriving and have overcome so much.”
The level III NICU at Children’s & Women’s Hospital cares for the area’s most fragile newborns, many born prematurely or with critical medical needs. Some families spend weeks or even months in the hospital before being able to take their baby home. On average, more than 900 infants “graduate” from the NICU each year.
