Preparing the Family and Children for Surgery

Abstract

The focus of this literature analysis is the concept of preparing the family and children for surgery. As posited in the literature, surgery causes stress and anxiety that have a negative impact on both parents and their children. Therefore, the need for health care professionals to facilitate positive preparation for surgery to minimize anxiety and enhance postoperative recovery is important. Preparing the family and children for surgery is discussed in depth under the following themes: Preoperative Anxiety in Children, the Impact of Preoperative Anxiety on the Pediatric Patients and Parents, Preoperative Psychological Preparation for Children and Parents, and the Role of Nurse Practitioners in Preoperative Preparation. Through reviewing the literature, it would appear that some areas of preparation for parents are not as sufficient as they could be, particularly with regard to adequate preoperative education programs. The majority of studies reported that therapeutic play and clown interventions used for psychological preparation of parents and their children have been effective in minimizing and decreasing anxiety levels.

Evaluation of Preoperative Information Needs in Pediatric Anesthesiology

“…Factors linked to anxiety and emotional distress in parents and children include lack of familiarity with the surgical setting, including the medical equipment, lack of preparation for painful procedures, and inadequate preoperative preparation [3,6]. Therefore, before surgery, families and their children need to be well-informed and prepared to reduce their levels of anxiety.…”

Supporting paediatric patients: Parental presence in the anaesthetic journey

“…The unfamiliar surroundings of the hospital, a lack of preoperative preparation, painful procedures and fear of medical equipment can all have an impact on a child's perioperative anxiety 34 . The preoperative visit would de-escalate these fears in a non-threatening way by familiarising the child with the equipment.…”

Health specialists’ views on the needs for developing a digital gaming solution for paediatric day surgery: A qualitative study

“…Day surgery is family oriented, and parents need to plan their absences from work (Criss, Brown, Gish, Gadepalli, & Hirschl, 2018;Kuo et al, 2012). Enrolment at the day surgery and surgeon continuity can be difficult for hospital members to organise and this poses challenges for families: children and families must be well-prepared for their upcoming surgery (Al-Sagarat, Al-Oran, Obeidat, Hamlan, & Moxham, 2017;Criss et al, 2018;Fortier & Kain, 2015), but at the same time, children should not fast for longer than necessary (Heikal, Bowen, & Thomas, 2019). In Finland, 4.7% of all elective surgeries are cancelled causing unnecessary wastage (Turunen, Miettinen, Setälä, & Vehviläinen-Julkunen, 2018).…”