Preparing children and families psychologically for day surgery: an evaluation

• Published in: Journal of advanced nursing 1994-06, Vol.19 (6), p.1057-1062
• Main Authors: Ellerton, Mary-Lou, Merriam, Craig
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Ambulatory Surgical Procedures - nursing; Ambulatory Surgical Procedures - psychology; Anxiety - epidemiology; Anxiety - etiology; Anxiety - prevention & control; Attitude of Health Personnel; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Day surgery; Families; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Miscellaneous; Nursing; Parents - education; Parents - psychology; Patient education; Patient Education as Topic - methods; Patient Satisfaction; Preoperative Care - methods; Program Evaluation; Psychological aspects; Psychology and medicine; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Videotape Recording
• ISSN: 0309-2402; 1365-2648
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.1994.tb01188.x

The increasing use of ambulatory care settings for children's surgery places more responsibility on parents for psychological preparation of children for surgery and for their post‐operative care. This paper describes the evaluation of a pre‐admission programme to prepare children between the ages of 3 and 15 years and their families psychologically for day surgery. Seventy‐five families comprised the study sample, 23 in the programme group and 53 in the non‐intervention group. The programme focused on familiarizing families with the physical and procedural components of day surgery through a videotape of a family in a naturally occurring day surgery situation, a tour, and hospital play. Fewer children and parents in the programme group reported high anxiety levels awaiting surgery. Children and parents with previous surgical experience reported higher levels of pre‐surgical anxiety than inexperienced families. Families reported the physicians and day surgery nurse as their primary sources of information and rated the day surgery nurse highest in their satisfaction with information received. Implications for practice, particularly for meeting the needs of young children and out‐of‐town families, are discussed.