Dr. Red Nose’ Diary - Embracing Their Spirits for Half a Day More - 紅鼻子醫生 Dr.Rednose

Dr. Red Nose’ Diary – Embracing Their Spirits for Half a Day More

Dr. Red Nose’ service at Taichung Veterans General Hospital is about to enter its fourth year, and starting last Wednesday, our service here has become a little different! With Zhongyou Information’s sponsorship, we have added half a day to our service hours. With more hours and more beds served, our footsteps have even expanded to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit).

Carrying a full load of performance props and musical instruments, Dr. Red Nose discovered, while walking down a certain corridor, that at the entrance of every ward, children and their parents had already been waiting expectantly. Ho-Hey and Bobo looked as if they had been “surrounded” by more than a dozen people in the corridor! Flattered and surprised, they immediately came back to their senses, prepared their instruments, warmed up their voices, and responded to the audience’s enthusiasm with music and improvised singing. To the melody, parents gently swayed with their children, and some even started dancing! The joyful and heartwarming atmosphere transformed the hospital’s brightly lit corridor into a plaza in a shopping district, where adults and children out enjoying themselves gathered around to watch the street performers and applauded and laughed together.

During our service in the wards, we met Yuanyuan (pseudonym). While Ho-Hey and Bobo were still peeking in from the doorway, Yuanyuan’s mother greeted Dr. Red Nose with a warm smile and invited them to come in quickly. Because Yuanyuan had been bedridden for a long time, Dr. Red Nose chose to surround him with gentle, soothing music. At that moment, a tissue and a sponge red nose floated in the air along with the melody, then lightly brushed across Yuanyuan’s arm. This gentle stimulation brought a smile to his face. After the performance, his mother specifically told the social worker and clowns that Yuanyuan was extremely sensitive to touch. He would usually show strong resistance and displeasure toward other people’s touch (during treatment, repositioning, physical examinations, etc.), but she could clearly feel that Yuanyuan accepted Dr. Red Nose’ touch and liked the clowns. Hearing this, we all felt deeply encouraged, and were very happy that Yuanyuan liked Dr. Red Nose~ 🥰

The PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) is usually a more serious environment, and the medical staff are also relatively tense. But when Dr. Red Nose arrived, the nurses’ excitement and cheers of “We’ve been looking forward to this for so long!!!” completely exceeded our expectations. Not only did they guide and participate in the process of accompanying the children, the medical staff even teased Dr. Red Nose, saying they wanted to perform a somersault together. Unexpectedly, after the clown ended up in a disheveled state from tumbling around, the nurse who had said they would perform together stood to the side with all the medical staff and family members, laughing heartily! 🤣🤣

Thank you to the team at Zhongyou Information. Following last year’s sponsorship of the Children’s Hospital at China Medical University Hospital, you have provided additional support this year by sponsoring performances at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, further strengthening the development of a child-friendly healthcare environment in central Taiwan.

We all deeply felt that adding this half day made a very different kind of impact. The joyful moments lasted longer, each child had more time for games and interaction, there was more laughter, parents felt more comforted, and the atmosphere also helped medical staff release a considerable amount of stress. Let Dr. Red Nose embrace their spirits for half a day more ❤️