MEGAN HARRIS, R.N., A REGISTERED NURSE in the UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital Surgical Intensive Care Unit 4EAST, discovered a special assistant for helping her patients heal when she began working there five years ago.
In nursing school, Harris was taught about different ways to care for a patient, but she wasn’t aware of the UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine program, or AIM.
“The Arts in Medicine program is one of my favorite tools that we have at our disposal,” Harris said. “We take care of the medical side, but there’s a component of healing that is mental and emotional for a patient and I feel like the Arts in Medicine program — in particular — touches on those things.”
Sometimes AIM helps with the physical aspect, too.
“Coloring makes physical therapy fun. There’s no pressure. No one has to understand the word that you’re writing. Little things like that are what make AIM special.”
Megan Harris, R.N.,, UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital Surgical Intensive Care 4EAST
“Coloring is a form of physical therapy for a patient who has been sick for so long that they can’t pick up their hands. They can get frustrated doing the same exercises every day and they want to do something different,” Harris said. “Imagine being in your 50s or 60s and having to learn how to hold a pencil again. Coloring makes physical therapy fun. There’s no pressure. No one has to understand the word that you’re writing. Little things like that are what make AIM special.”
AIM provides a plethora of different modalities, including music, and Harris makes every attempt to have her patients experience this because she’s seen firsthand how it can help.
“Music can change the energy in the room to something really positive. It also can give the patient something else to think about,” Harris shared. “Something as simple as a song from their past gives them a different memory — it makes them smile. I have seen patients who were so down and then someone from AIM comes in and sings and their attitude changes for the rest of the day.”
Michael Claytor, an artist in residence with Arts in Medicine at UF Health Shands Hospital played several songs for UF Health Shands patient Odessa J. Daye.
Photo: Photo by Jesse S Jones
AIM isn’t just for patients.
“I remember one time when Ricky Kendall came into our unit and sang,” Harris shared. “I stood outside the patient’s room and just cried because it had been a really emotional and rough day. It was so nice to have something calming and peaceful. It was support for me on that day.”