Tuesday, October 17, 20061
Children's Hospital in Boston in a television controversy
There are TVs all over the hospital despite the recommendation that children under 2 should not be watching TV. The hospital says it distracts from sometimes painful treatment:
Before installing the televisions in the new cardiac unit last year, she said, the hospital sought input from patients' families and found overwhelming interest in having television. The parents wanted them not just as a distraction for the children but also as entertainment for parents who are there for long stretches, including times when a child is sleeping. Shaw said the hospital is "aware of and, to the extent possible, respectful" of the pediatrics academy guideline. There are no televisions in the neonatal intensive care unit, for instance.
Comments
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Michael H. Cohen
Kevin: Great blog. One could argue that silence and stillness (not soap operas) promote healing, and that maybe hospital stays are time to get away from all that false drama anyway. Some patients may think they have a right to a t.v., but then the noise can interfere with others. What do you think? I've carried the discussion at: http://www.camlawblog.com/hospital-policy-460-hospital-use-of-television-questioned.html and http://www.camlawblog.com/hospital-policy-456-hospital-executive-starts-health-care-blog.html on the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Law Blog, and will cite to Kevin, MD's Medical Weblog where possible.
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