Back to Case Studies

Lincoln County Hospital ED use RITA to support 4yr old with LD

1_Parking-Lincoln-County-Hospital (1)-4

Emergency Department

The Challenge

The young child suffered an extremely bad fall at home. He is diagnosed with non-verbal autism.

On arrival at the hospital he was unable to process the setting and the new faces surrounding him. He was very anxious. The parents were concerned about the child self-harming.

Being able to calm our child in this way helped both myself and my husband stay calm and reduce our anxiety in with this situation, a very worrying time for any parent."

The Solution

The nursing team placed him into a side room with his parents to try and calm him. He was offered RITA as a means of intervention whilst the family waited 2 hours for a surgeon to assess the child’s face.

The Outcome 

Mum, explained, it was the first time EVER that her child had sat upon her knee for any length of time, remaining engaged as he began to touch the screen. His eyes were everywhere, taking everything in on the RITA screen.

His body became calm and still. He relaxed and you were able to see the release of tension from his body. He played with Bubble Spin. Every time it made a noise, he would clap with excitement, taking Mum’s hand to touch the screen in pure joy.

 

Picture 1

Picture 2

 

“Our son was admitted onto the children’s Rainforest Ward and I asked if he could use this on the ward. But unfortunately, it wasn’t allowed as it could not be signed off the current ward. There is clearly a greater need for this technology across the hospital and not just in A&E Departments. The power of RITA was positive on so many levels.
The suppliers of RITA have agreed to donate a tablet to Noah to further support him, but also because his much-needed therapy sessions have stopped due to Covid. I know this will mean the world to him. Thank you so much”. – Noah’s Mum

 

 

Bringing RITA to ULHT was one of my finest moves and it’s great that she is still being used and used well.

RITA has been hugely welcomed across our hospitals; she is a very valuable member of our team on many of our wards. We are actively exploring whether we can have more particularly within children's services - a legacy from Noah's experience." - Jennie Negus Deputy Chief Nurse

RITA can be deployed to support a variety of situations. On this occasion a child with profound learning difficulties presented at the emergency department and was extremely distressed. RITA was applied in order to calm the child. The result was beyond anyones expectations.
Some additional information in one line

Download Case Study

Download this case study in full as a PDF by clicking on the button below.

Download