Children’s distress during intravenous placement: The role of child life specialists

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of child life specialists’ intervention to minimize distress for children undergoing IV placement procedures. We hypothesized that regardless of child age or gender, children who received child life services during IV placement would exhibit less distress than would children undergoing the procedure absent a child life specialist (i.e., those with standard care). Ninety-five children were observed during IV placement at a children’s hospital, and children’s level of distress was rated by observers during the placement. Presence of child life specialist occurred randomly. Results indicated that children who had child life intervention during IV placement (n = 45) exhibited less distress than those children with standard care (n = 50), controlling for child age and typical distress during procedures. They were also more likely to have a J-Tip used during IV placement. The most common strategy employed by child life specialists was distraction, which was used for every IV placement. The results support the use of certified child life specialists (CCLS) for reducing children’s distress during painful and invasive procedures such as IV placement.