I’ve been sick the last couple of days and it has got me thinking about how illness or injury can cause anxiety. Even as adults we worry that it might be something serious at the same time as worrying about troubling a doctor in case it isn’t serious! For young children the experience can be overwhelming. 3-5 year olds I have taught have become very upset when told they needed to see the nurse at school. To overcome their fear we invited the school nurse to visit the class to reassure them.
It was simple to set up, we collected some soft toys and created common scenarios such as a scraped knee, bumped head, nosebleed and stomach ache for her to treat. The children watched intently and came up with suggestions for treatment. They enjoyed seeing and touching the things the nurse brought such as a hot water bottle, ice pack and sticky plasters. Soon all the teddies were feeling much better!
We didn’t have any problems with taking children at the nurse after that, but if children are still anxious, they could visit the nurse with the soft toys and a note to see the nurse help them in the medical room.
Following on from the lesson, children enjoyed exploring being nurses and doctors in a role play area, continuing to look after the toys and each other. This helps them to become familiar with medical equipment so it’s no longer scary.
Resources
Editable sick or hurt scenarios available for free download from the tes shop or TpT store.
To encourage mark making and early writing, Teachers Telling Tales produced writing frames for children to fill in during doctor role play. After listening to their patient they mark / fill in the details and their prescription on the form.
