Abstract
Background: Hospitalization disrupts children’s lives and can produce feelings such as anxiety, fear, or pain. Playing is an important part of children’s lives. Thus, it is necessary to ensure holistic care during the process, including play therapy. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of therapeutic play in hospitalized children. Methods: A systematic review was performed. The search was conducted in CINAHL (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature), CUIDEN, and PubMed (Medline). The search equation was “pediatric nurs* AND play therapy”. The search was performed in March 2020. Results: n = 14 studies were included in the review. The studies reveal that the application of therapeutic play in hospitalized children decreases postoperative pain, improves behavior and attitude, and reduces anxiety during the hospital stay. Conclusions: play therapy has a beneficial impact on the care of hospitalized children and should be implemented in pediatric units after assessing the resources and training needed for pediatric nurses.
Highlights
In the European Letter for Hospitalized Children approved in 1986, several rights were adopted, highlighting the “right of the child to receive information adapted to his age, mental development, emotional and psychological state” and “the right to dispose of age-appropriate toys, books, and audiovisual media during his stay in the hospital” [1].Childhood is a key stage in human life that influences the development of the person
This phase may be interrupted by adverse events such as diseases, pathologies, painful and invasive procedures, trauma, or prolonged hospitalizations [2]
The child may perceive this situation as traumatic and it can alter their emotional development, as they are separated from their daily and family environment to face an unknown process with painful interventions and restrictions
Summary
Childhood is a key stage in human life that influences the development of the person. In some cases, this phase may be interrupted by adverse events such as diseases, pathologies, painful and invasive procedures, trauma, or prolonged hospitalizations [2]. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of therapeutic play in hospitalized children. The studies reveal that the application of therapeutic play in hospitalized children decreases postoperative pain, improves behavior and attitude, and reduces anxiety during the hospital stay. Conclusions: play therapy has a beneficial impact on the care of hospitalized children and should be implemented in pediatric units after assessing the resources and training needed for pediatric nurses
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