Effectiveness of a Preoperative Preparation Program on Children's Emotional States and Parental Anxiety

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the effects of a preoperative preparation program on children and their parents in a pediatric surgery outpatient clinic. A quasiexperimental design was used. Seventy-three children and their primary caregivers were included in the study (intervention=36, control=37). Data collection tools included the Characteristics of Children and Caregivers Data Form, the PedsQL Health Care Parental Satisfaction Scale, the State Anxiety Inventory, and the children's Koppitz Human FigureDrawing Test. Data were collected on the day before surgery and the day of surgery. The program comprised verbal and written information about the process that was given to families and children, and a medical play doll was used for therapeutic communication with children in the intervention group. The satisfaction level of parents in the intervention group was found to be significantly higher than in the control group (intervention=100, control=50; P<.05). During the preoperative and discharge periods, the anxiety scores of parents in the intervention group were significantly lower than the control group (P<.05). According to the Koppitz Drawing Test, the children in the control group's emotional state was higher than the intervention group regarding impulsiveness, anxiety, and anger on discharge (P<.05). The preoperative preparation program was found to have a positive effect on the children and their parents. Nurses should use drawings of children as a therapeutic communication technique to evaluate the emotions of children.