When Brianna Boyd took her first post-surgery steps in the corridor of the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, she found a welcome distraction to pain—right at her fingertips.

Launching the “Pokemon Go” game on her iPhone for the first time, the 19-year-old patient discovered a small, cartoonlike creature just down the hall. After a few tries, she captured it, and then another, and another. And by midmorning: “I wanted to get up as much as I could to find as many Pokémon as I could!” she laughs.

“Pokemon Go” is a free, augmented-reality mobile app that brings to life the trading card game and TV series of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Using a mobile phone’s GPS, it allows users to capture fictional Pokémon characters that “appear” in a real-world environment.

Child life specialists, nurses and other pediatric caregivers say the game encourages patients to keep moving while they’re in the hospital. Research shows that mobility helps with the healing process, lessens anxiety and depression, and ultimately decreases the amount of time patients have to stay in the hospital.

Children’s Center nurse manager Nancy Stanley says “Pokemon Go” is also useful as a coping mechanism for patients. “It helps them not think about what’s happening medically, and it’s an opportunity for interaction outside of hospital activities, medical needs and the plan of care.”

The game allows child life specialists like Gina Pizzano to build rapport with all the kids who are playing, especially teenagers. “Sometimes it can be hard to connect with them, and this is a great way to do it,” she says.