Introducing the Starlight Nintendo Switch Handheld

Starlight is excited to unveil the newest addition to the Starlight Gaming program, the Starlight Nintendo Switch handheld!

This handheld was created to provide a more portable iteration of the Starlight Nintendo Switch Gaming station, which will allow healthcare professionals more flexibility in the type of situations that they can utilize Starlight Gaming.

Now, as the Starlight Nintendo Switch handhelds are arriving at hospitals, we are excited to hear from Marty McMahon, the Gaming Activity Coordinator in the Child Life department at Texas Children’s Hospital. We reached out to Marty to get an expert’s opinion on why this new Starlight Nintendo Switch handheld is so important for hospitals.

Marty points out that “handheld gaming provides quick and untethered access to gaming opportunities to our patients, giving access to normalization, and distraction through gaming in areas where the traditional [Starlight Gaming stations] wouldn’t have access.”

At Starlight, we know that happy kids heal faster! So, it was a clear need to make sure that Starlight Gaming was accessible in all different areas of the hospital, like when a child is in pre-op where a Starlight Gaming station may not fit due to size and needing to be plugged in.

We are eager to see how all our hospital partners put these gaming stations to use; Marty already has an idea for Texas Children’s Hospital!

“I plan to set up a checkout system for our Child Life staff to deliver units bedside to our patients as requested,” explains Marty. These Starlight Nintendo Switch handhelds will provide a faster, quicker gaming option to our hospital partners.

As we continue to work closely with our hospital partners, we will look to identify ways that we can bring new and innovative programs to hospitalized kids.