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Providing information to children before and during venepuncture
1University of Surrey, Guildford. t.hughes@surrey.ac.uk
Insights
Providing age-appropriate information before venepuncture can reduce distress in children. Understanding children
Area of Science:
- Pediatric healthcare
- Child psychology
- Medical procedures
Background:
- Venepuncture is a common but potentially distressing procedure for children.
- Effective communication strategies are crucial for managing pediatric anxiety during medical interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how information is provided to children (aged 3-11) before and during venepuncture.
- To understand the impact of this information on their experience and distress levels.
Main Methods:
- A qualitative, observational study involving 11 children and 4 healthcare professionals.
- Non-participant observation before and during the venepuncture procedure.
Main Results:
- Children received minimal information before venepuncture, with limited assessment of their prior knowledge.
- Younger children (under six) received information about local anesthetic cream application but not the venepuncture itself.
- Younger children exhibited more distress (protesting, crying) during venepuncture compared to older children.
Conclusions:
- Tailoring information to children's understanding can mitigate distress associated with venepuncture.
- Improved communication strategies are needed to support children undergoing medical procedures.
Aim:
To explore the nature, process and consequences of giving information to children aged three to 11 years before and during venepuncture.
Method:
This was a non-participant, observational, qualitative study of 11 children and four healthcare professionals before and during venepuncture. The healthcare professionals were: a sister, a healthcare assistant, a junior doctor and a staff nurse.
Findings:
There was little assessment of children's levels of knowledge of venepuncture and they received no information before the procedure. During the procedure, the children under six years of age only received information about the local anaesthetic cream during the application of the cream, not the venepuncture; the older children received information about the application of the cream and the venepuncture during both procedures. Practitioners used different language with the younger children when applying the local anaesthetic cream. Although the younger children did not appear distressed by the application of the cream, they appeared to be distressed by the venepuncture--more so than the older children--protesting and crying during the procedure.
Conclusion:
Some of the distress associated with venepuncture can be avoided if children are given information about the procedure in a way they can understand.
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