Less Fearful Hospital Stays
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LESS FEARFUL HOSPITAL
STAYS
3 Tips to Ease Anxiety
by Michele Ranard, M.Ed.
560 wds
If your child will be visiting the hospital for a procedure,
they may feel fretful about what to expect and any pain they may experience.
These expert tips will help guide you in calming their nerves.
Why They Worry About the
Hospital
According to Dr. Judith A. Jones of Kidshealth.org, common fears are needles and pain. Depending upon
the procedure, Dr. Jones suggests it may be possible for your child to get
medicine to feel more relaxed.
Young children often struggle with separation anxiety and
will likely feel more at ease if they are held by their parents while falling
asleep before surgery. Older children may develop anxiety for “exposure of body
parts during surgery, cutting and scarring of the body, waking up during
surgery, loss of control, pain after surgery, and even death.”
3 Tips to Ease Worry
Many children will benefit from a calm conversation before
their hospital stay about what to expect. Kidshealth.org
suggests the following tips for such a talk with your child:
- Let your child know
where you'll be during the whole experience. Kids will feel better
knowing you won’t be far and will be there when they wake up. “You may
also be able to sit with your child until he or she falls asleep before
the surgery. Discuss this with your anesthesiologist. And explain that (in
many outpatient procedures) your child can come home soon after the
surgery is done. In cases that require hospitalization, most
hospitals avoid separation anxiety by permitting at least one parent to
stay with the child day and night.”
Be calm for your child. If you stay relaxed (breathe!), your
child is less likely to feel nervous about the hospital. “If you need to vent
your emotions, try to take a few minutes to step out of the room where your
child can't see or hear you.”
- Give your child age-appropriate and developmental
stage-appropriate info. Less information is usually more appropriate
for younger children. “That doesn't mean lying — it just means giving the
most appropriate information for your child's age and developmental stage.”
Too many details may increase your child’s anxiety so take their age and
personality into account. Tweens and teens may worry they will wake up
during the procedure, so they should be reassured they will not. Be sure
to be sensitive about how you say it.
You will want to avoid using the term “nap” so they don’t become
anxious about naps in the future. Also avoid “cut,” “stuck with a needle,”
or “put to sleep.”
- Reassure them it is normal to feel “funny” after surgery. “Explain
that there may be some pain and discomfort after the surgery, but that the
doctor can give medicine to help. It's important for kids to understand
that they don't have to try to be brave or ‘put on a happy face’ after
surgery.” Help your child understand they may feel groggy, scared, or sad
after the anesthesia, but everything will be fine because you’ll be there
with them, and it won’t last long.
The experts at kidshealth.org
remind parents that keeping their own anxiety in check will ease a child’s
pre-op worries and positively influence their post-op recovery. As Dr. Jones
suggests, “Remember to use nonverbal cues to communicate assurance:
your tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, and body language convey
powerful messages.”
Michele Ranard has a
husband, two children, and a master’s in counseling.
Resources:
Kidshealth.org
reviewer: Judith A. Jones, M.D.
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