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Provide an Activity

Dear Prospective Visitors:

Thank you for your interest in providing a special event/activity for the children and families here at Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children. Providing an activity/entertainment can help to make their hospital stay much more enjoyable! Entertainment such as a craft activity, a musical performance or a visit from a celebrity or cartoon character can help make the hospital a less threatening environment. Here are some helpful suggestions to keep in mind when planning for your visit to the hospital:

General Guidelines

• We ask that you limit the number of people you bring to 5 people. *This helps keep everyone actively involved in the activity as well as helping not to overwhelm the children who come to the event/activity.  If you are a corporation with a larger group, please speak with the Child Life Staff to see if special arrangements can be made for a larger group activity.
  
  
• Due to infection control, children must be 14 years old or older in order to come to the hospital for an activity or event.
  
  
• We also have an outside area that can be used for special events, weather permitting. Please check with the Child Life Staff regarding space for your event.
  
  
• Because many of our patients have upcoming procedures or are on restricted diets, we ask that you do not bring food or drink.
  
  
• Because our patients come from a wide variety of religious, political, and social backgrounds, we ask that the content of any activity/entertainment be religiously and politically neutral.

Give Aways/Deliveries

• Hand outs/give-aways are not required. We ask that if you would like to give something to the patients, that you bring enough for everyone. Keep in mind that we see children from 1 day old to 21 years of age, and have 123 Pediatric Beds.
  
  
• If you are interested in a room-to-room delivery, you must make special arrangements with the child life staff to do this. Visiting children may not participate in a room-to-room delivery due to infection control policies.
  
  
• Please make sure the gifts are not a choking hazard.
  
  
• We also ask that you refrain from bringing any latex items such as balloons or koosh balls for the children, since this is a commonly seen allergy.
  
  
• Some ideas for give aways include: coloring books, crayons, markers, bubbles, and stickers.
  
  
• If you are not sure or have any questions regarding give away items, please contact the Child Life Department at 703-776-6486.

Infectious Diseases

In order to protect our patients from additional infections, visiting persons who have been exposed to contagious diseases (i.e. chicken pox, hepatitis) or have had any flu like symptoms (i.e. vomiting, fever, diarrhea) or cold like symptoms (i.e. runny nose, watery eyes, cough, sneezing) 24 hours prior to visiting are asked not to visit the children at the hospital.

Photography

The hospital requires a photo release for any patient to have their photo taken for any reason. Because parents do not always give consent, we ask that you do not bring a camera to take personal photographs of the patients. If you require photographs of your group or organization, please talk with the child life department to see what arrangements can be made to meet your needs. Video cameras are also not permitted for personal use.

Planning

In planning for your group, make sure your event, activity, concert, etc. can be enjoyed by all ages of patients. This might mean you pre-make or cut some of your craft for a younger child (3-5yrs old) and have the materials available for older children to make independently. Please plan your activity for one hour.  Patients often come and go during activity time, depending on how they are feeling.  If you require extra time to set up, please let the child life staff know.

Attire

Working with children can be lots of fun and sometimes messy, therefore we ask that you wear comfortable clothing when coming to visit. However, we ask that you refrain from wearing flip-flop shoes, tank or tube tops and short-shorts.

These guidelines are recommendations to help your group or organization when planning your event for the children and their families here at Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Child Life Department at 703-776-6486.  Once again, thank you for your interest!