'It is lovely to be able to make a situation which could be frightening and very stressful for a child into something that the child knows is going to be fun. To know you have helped a child get through that experience is so rewarding.'
Ms Harris points out that like many caring professions, hospital play work is not particularly well paid, but she benefits from being in the NHS pension scheme.
'I am based now on the day surgery unit but I can go to other wards in the hospital when I am needed. Most children come in for a pre-admission visit the week before and I prepare them for what is going to happen the following week. So when they come back, I am a familiar face and I can remind them about what is going to happen.
'On my ward we have babies from around ten months to teenagers aged up to 17. So you have to have a really good knowledge of children and be able to remember what it is like to be a teenager. A lot of my job is about thinking what would it be like to be this child or that child.'
Ms Harris prepares children with play techniques, for procedures that can be anything from going into theatre to having a nasal gastric tube inserted.
'The approach I use depends on the age group. For the younger children we have a cuddly monkey, which is about three feet six inches tall, and we have photograph books showing all the things that happen when you come to hospital. I have photographs of Monkey having his temperature taken, going off to the anaesthetic room, waking up in the recovery room, coming back to the ward, having lunch, and playing. It is really important to show Monkey having fun. We talk about what they are having done and look at the photographs.
'We drilled holes in a doll so when a child is having a nasal gastric tube we can show them on the doll. We have some out-of-date nasal gastric tubes and show the child how they are passed through the nose. I talk to the doll about what we are going to do and get the child to measure how much tube we need to pass, and then the child can have a go.
'I try to work very closely with the multidisciplinary team in the hospital and there are other professionals who understand what we are doing and are glad to have someone relaxing the child and stopping them from wriggling by capturing their attention.
'We also do a lot of therapeutic play and work closely with the physiotherapists. One of my colleagues works on the surgical orthopaedic ward where the child might be for some weeks.
'I try to think of their moods and how they might feel, so if a child is in pain I try to think of a quieter activity, or I might think of something to cheer a child up.'
