Bandanas For Babies
Abby Florence's Service With The U of U NICU
By Abby Swanson
To begin her project, Abby communicated with the University of Utah hospital about the needs of their NICU. She has always been interested in becoming more involved in the NICU because she is considering a career in that unit so she wanted to see what their needs were. In order to see what the babies and doctors at the NICU were in need of, she contacted a nurse who let her know what to collect. She bought the supplies needed, brought them to class, and led the project for the class.
Initially she had hoped to make fleece blankets for the infants at the unit but once she learned more details and logistics she realized it was unrealistic for the classroom. The initial goal was to create 15-20 blankets but when Abby spoke with the nurse she realized it would be a difficult group activity and would take hours of outside of school work. So the nurses that Abby was in contact with told her that she could just buy a bunch of bandanas because they are the perfect size for swaddling the infants.
So during a class period, Abby brought a bunch of bandanas and plastic bags. We all worked as a class to fold and package the bandanas. While we were doing so, Abby told everyone who was participating about the background of her project and what she was planning on doing with the bandanas once we were done with them.
The class seemed to have a good time working together to package and fold the bandanas. “I really hope the people at the University Of Utah NICU can make good use of these for the infants. Glad we could help.” said classmate Jack Idstrom, after participating in class last week.
When I talked to Abby she said something that she learned through doing the service project was how much it can really impact the community. She also enjoyed actually getting to lead her peers in a service project. It was a growing experience for me to take charge and delegate responsibilities to the kids in my class. It was also a fun way to bond with classmates as we all worked to help a common goal in our community.
What helped shape her learning the most was the direct interaction with a nurse at the NICU. Abby stated it was extremely informative and eye opening to be able to hear the needs of the hospital directly from a member of the staff. She got into contact with a nurse named Maureen who her mom is friends with and the nurse was very helpful in helping Abby with the project.