Pre-Admission Visits
You child has been scheduled for surgery. You want to tell him/her all about it, but you would like some professional help in explaining what will happen in the hospital. The following pre-admission visits led by members of our Child Life staff at either Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital or Komansky Center for Children's Health will make it easier for you - and for your child.
Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital
Online pre-surgical tour. Just for kids!
This online tour will prepare you and your child for surgery. The online pre-operative tour enables children - and you - to see and learn all about the hospital in a friendly, non-threatening way. Launch tour.
If your child is three years old or older, Child Life specialists recommend that you and your child come to the hospital for a special tour. You are invited to attend without your child if he/she is younger than three. These pre-operative tours enable children - and you - to see and learn all about the hospital in a friendly, non-threatening way.
Hospital Tour
The tour starts with "medical play" during which a Child Life specialist will encourage the children to see and play with some of the medical equipment they will experience, such as an oxygen mask or surgical mask. They will role play with this equipment, using dolls as "patients."
Next, the children and parents are taken on a real tour of the hospital - as each step of the process will be explained in an age-appropriate manner for the young visitors. Although the children do not visit an operating room, they will visit the recovery room. The children get to meet staff and familiarize themselves with every area they'll see from the moment they arrive on the day of their hospitalization.
Both you and your child will have the opportunity to ask questions throughout the tour.
Teenagers are also encouraged to take a pre-operative tour, which will be geared to their age group.
Appointments for these tours are required. To arrange a special pre-operative tour, please call 212-342-0688. Once you have registered, you will be sent a letter reminding you when and where to meet for the tour, a parking valet voucher (there's valet parking in front of the hospital) and a bibliography of books that are appropriate for your child's age group and the kind of surgery he/she will be having.
Komansky Center for Children's Health
Online pre-surgical tour. Just for kids!
This online tour will prepare you and your child for surgery. The online pre-operative tour enables children - and you - to see and learn all about the hospital in a friendly, non-threatening way. Launch tour.
If your child is three years old or older, Child Life specialists recommend that you and your child come to the hospital for a special tour. You are invited to attend without your child if he/she is younger than three. These pre-operative tours enable children - and you - to see and learn all about the hospital in a friendly, non-threatening way.
Pre-Admission Visit
The Child Life specialists at the Komanksy Center invite you and your child to visit the hospital for a special orientation. During this visit, a Child Life Specialist will explain in an age-appropriate way what will happen during your child's stay at the hospital - whether your child is coming for day surgery or will be recovering in the hospital. The children at these orientations are able to look at a special book about the hospital that shows photographs of the various areas they will visit and the types of healthcare professionals they will meet during their hospitalization. (These books have text that simply and clearly explain the photographs).
The children can see and touch equipment and clothing they will experience - including gloves, mask, an IV pole, gown - and through "medical play" in which they role play, sometimes using dolls. You will be given a list of age-appropriate books that will help you further prepare your child for surgery. Throughout this pre-admission visit, you and your child will be encouraged to ask plenty of questions.
Appointments are required for a pre-admission visit. Please call 212-746-3518 at least two weeks before the scheduled surgery or hospitalization.
