Afraid of needles? Specialized youth vaccine clinic expands in London, Ont. [Video]

Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre is now offering a unique vaccination clinic for children and youth who need extra support.

The full-service pediatric vaccination clinic provides individualized support to help alleviate patients’ anxieties around needles or medical procedures.

The clinic provides pediatric-trained staff, including a nurse practitioner, registered practical nurses and child life specialists, who use a variety of strategies geared to the individual needs, age and developmental stage.

Needle-related anxiety is common in many children, youth, and some adults, so the long-term hope for the clinic is to create generations of parents and adults who have good coping skills and are free of hospital anxiety.

“The idea is that if we can create a positive experience for our young patients, they will be less likely to avoid medical appointments and procedures that are important for their health in the future,” says Leah Ethier, nurse practitioner at Children’s …