Elisha Wiggins, RN, and her coworkers at Southridge Clinic Pediatrics in Riverton Hospital’s medical group building, put together treat bags for patients who’d recently tested positive for COVID-19 and had to quarantine during Halloween. They arranged for the kids’ parents to drive up to the roundabout in the front of the building on the Friday before Halloween and had goodie bags ready for each patient and their siblings.
Earlier in the week, Elisha had been making calls to a few families letting them know of their COVID diagnosis when she spoke to a mom of four kids. She says the mom was really upset to have to tell her kids they couldn’t go trick-or-treating and would need to quarantine instead.
“After I got off the phone with the mom I was upset too,” says Elisha, who thought of her 4-year-old daughter who’d been looking forward to wearing her costume for months. “If I had to tell her she couldn’t go trick-or-treating she’d be so disappointed. These kids are missing Halloween parties and dressing up for parades at school.”
Elisha spoke with Jenn Fitzgerald, a medical assistant, and they tried to think of something they could do for these patients. As they were brainstorming, Nicole Langston, MD, suggested having the parents drive up to the roundabout in front of the building and giving away treat bags on the Friday before Halloween.
“We liked the idea and called it a Halloween parade,” says Elisha. “The nurses kept a list of all the patients they’d called who were COVID-19 positive. We asked the families how many children they had and if anyone had any allergies.”
Everyone at the clinic participated and dressed up as Toy Story characters that day. During their lunch hour, Elisha and her coworkers waited outside, handing the goodie bags out to the families. The bags contained things like treats and coloring books.
In total, they helped bring Halloween to about twenty kids from five different families, with most kids between ages six and ten.
“The mom with the four kids was pretty emotional,” she says. “Some of the parents were dressed up too. They were so thankful their kids had a way to celebrate.”