On Wednesday, September 27th, the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation Young Ambassadors (HLFYAs) and Alumni had the fantastic opportunity to talk to many representatives from the NY Presbyterian Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital. Each representative from the hospital spoke about their careers more in-depth and encouraged everyone to consider joining the healthcare field in the various roles that exist including Nursing, Child Life and Development/Fundraising . They also discussed how the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital is one of the few teaching institutions in the US, meaning it is affiliated with a medical school where medical students can receive practical training alongside doctors and professionals.
Wesley, the nursing representative, works in the pediatric cardiology department. He shared many heartfelt stories and the grit it takes to be a nurse. At the hospital, he sees many children in need and works hard always to give the children the best care possible. He also talked about how specialized the hospital truly is. Throughout the NICU, specifically for cardiology, there are 17 beds available. Most of the time, all 17 of them are full. He was a fantastic speaker and had some incredible stories and topics to discuss with all the YAs and the Alumni!
We also had several Development representatives speak to us, Adam, Jon and Alyssa. All three had incredible things to say about the hospital and the people they work with. Even though they are not directly working with patients, they can raise funds to provide the children with what they need. This team works more on the outside with the donors, ensuring they have fundraised enough to improve the patient’s experience and the overall hospital. They discussed a project they did with the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation and how they made an entire wing for patients if they were too critical to go to a regular room, but not in critical enough condition to be in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit.)
Lastly, the YAs and the Alumni talked with Hilary, the Child Life representative. She discussed what it means to work in the child life field in the hospital. Their job is to make the children as comfortable and well-informed as possible. She spoke about ways to break tough news to kids and how to help get things to make them more comfortable. Whether that is books, coloring activities, gift cards, etc., they would be the ones to get it done. At the end of the event, she introduced a project for all the YAs and Alumni to work on, making birthday cards for the children. Everyone could decorate and write on multiple cards and give gift cards from the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation.
The experience was an excellent opportunity for all the YAs and Alumni to learn about careers in the Healthcare field and to give back to the children at the hospital. It was really an incredible and fulfilling experience.
Written by 2023 HLFYA Ava Ranski
