Abstract
Communicating with hospitalized children for invasive procedures usually takes place in a veiled and indirect way. This present study evaluated children's verbal report on the drawings that they produced in situations of the psychological preparation for surgery. The research was conducted with 30 participants divided into two preparation groups (verbal information and toys), users of a children's hospital who used the technique of drawing-story. There were three distinct stages: a) the child receives instruction on the design history and hears a story the day before the surgery; b) the psychological preparation, in both groups submitted to different programs of preparation, and c) reapplication of the technique of drawing-story, on the day of the surgery, after preparation. Both preparation programs were effective in reducing the pre-surgical stress, and evaluated the types of reactions, such as feelings of inferiority, abandonment and insecurity, regardless of the applied program.
Highlights
Communicating with hospitalized children for invasive procedures usually takes place in a veiled and indirect way
Considering the importance of this subject, this paper aims to investigate the effects of pre-surgical psychological preparation on stress levels in children undergoing elective surgery according to two different procedures for preparation, assessed through the verbal report on the content of the drawings
There were no significant differences in the children reports between prior and following moments to the preparation in relation to the category Escape
Summary
Communicating with hospitalized children for invasive procedures usually takes place in a veiled and indirect way This present study evaluated children’s verbal report on the drawings that they produced in situations of the psychological preparation for surgery. There were three distinct stages: a) the child receives instruction on the design history and hears a story the day before the surgery; b) the psychological preparation, in both groups submitted to different programs of preparation, and c) reapplication of the technique of drawing-story, on the day of the surgery, after preparation Both preparation programs were effective in reducing the pre-surgical stress, and evaluated the types of reactions, such as feelings of inferiority, abandonment and insecurity, regardless of the applied program. A study with hospitalized children from 5 to 11 years of age, victims of chronic diseases, showed that they are informed indirectly, either by listening to the physician talking with their parents or reading the facial expressions of adults (Gabarra & Crepaldi, 2011)
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