Pediatric nurses view about parental presence during children’s painful procedures

Abstract

Family- centered care is one of the basic principles of pediatric nursing and allows pediatric patients having parental support during invasive procedures. But, health care professionals hesitate about parental presence during pediatric invasive procedure. The aim of this descriptive study is determining the views of nurses about parental presence during children’s invasive procedures. This study was conducted between the dates 15th March and 15th July 2009 in a university hospital in whose clinics allowed to parental stay in Ankara. The total number of the nurses accepted to participate in the research is 43 (57%). Demographic data form, open and close ended interview questionnaires were used in the study. The majority of nurses reported that the parents should have not be present with the child during the painful procedure. The disadvantages of parental presence during a painful procedure commonly expressed by the nurses respectively; increased level of children’s anxiety (77.1%), increased level of health professional’s anxiety (60.0%) and detrimental effect of parental presence on the success of the procedure (60.0%). The nurses’ recommendations due to make less traumatic of the painful procedures for both site of children and their parents are respectively; explaining the procedure to the children and parents (83.7%), doing local anesthesia or sedation before procedure (37.2%) and performing the painful procedures by specialized teams (20.9%).