Scrubs and scrunchies: Pediatric nurse dispenses extra-special care at WVU Medicine Children鈥檚
Meet Amanda Vranish: full-time pediatric nurse, part-time hair consultant and makeover artist, at WVU Medicine Children鈥檚.
鈥淵eah, I didn鈥檛 know it was gonna take off like that,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he kids love it.鈥�
Vranish administers care to a full range of young patients at the children鈥檚 hospital in Evansdale.
She sees kids battling chronic illness or on the mend from a broken leg.
Kids who go home the next day and others who won鈥檛 leave for weeks. Months, even.
There鈥檚 a common weave to all this, and you can see it for yourself, just by standing in front of the mirror with a comb or brush in your hand.
Hair.
The locks of the patients of WVU Medicine Children鈥檚 are often matted and snarled from bandages and adhesive leads for the diagnostic equipment required as part of the stay.
鈥淭he glue gets in there and that鈥檚 it,鈥� the nurse said.
Which started her thinking: Why not do something a little extra-special, especially for the little girls in the ward just starting to think about appearances and looking pretty?
鈥淭hat鈥檚 how we got the 鈥楬air Fairy Cart,'鈥� she said.
It started out with special shampoos and conditioners, and bows and tinsel and headbands and all the things, the nurse recounts.
She put out a call for donations on surrounding floors of WVU Medicine Children鈥檚 and at J.W. Ruby Memorial next door. The take was immediate and amazing, she said.
It got even more amazing with Amazon.
Like the best manes, the enterprise kept growing. People kept tossing in plush toys and fun, fuzzy socks. Things like that.
To access the Amazon wishlist and to donate, scan the QR code in the accompanying logo.
Over the weeks, the list has grown to accommodate ethnic hair care products, which really worked recently for one patient, a 12-year-boy who needed a touch-up on his cornrow-braided hair.
鈥淭he little things like that can make a kid feel good,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e stuck in the hospital, you鈥檙e not having any fun.鈥�
That, she knows.
Health issues for a time led to frequent hospital stays when she was a kid, said Vranish, 25, who grew up in Canonsburg and initially worked as a unit secretary at the same children鈥檚 hospital in Pittsburgh where she had been a patient.
Seeing the nurses, in particular, reminded her of the good experiences she had with their interaction when she had been hospitalized 鈥� so she went back to school.
鈥淚t reminded me that this is what I wanted to do all along,鈥� she said.
Meanwhile, the hair wasn鈥檛 just a coincidence, Vranish said, laughing.
鈥淚 was girly,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was always doing hair and makeup. And I always babysat. I know how little girls think.鈥�
Such as a certain 4-year-old patient this summer who was the first recipient of Vranish鈥檚 full spa treatment as both nurse and overseer of the Hair Fairy Cart.
The regimen included the full shampoo, the meticulous brushing, the hair tinsel, and yes 鈥� the requisite, must-have, headband with the kitty cat ears.
鈥淥f course,鈥� Vranish said.
The new star of WVU Medicine Children鈥檚 was resplendent, as she turned a hallway into a fashion runway.
鈥淪he was walking around saying, 鈥業 look good.鈥� It was cute.鈥�