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Published on: December 20, 2011
Nurses' perspectives on supporting children during needle-related medical procedures
Katarina Karlsson1, Ingela Rydström2, Karin Enskär3
1School of Health Sciences, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden; Department of Nursing Sciences, CHILD Research Group, School of Health Sciences, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden; katarina.karlsson@hb.se.
Insights
Nurses support children during needle-related medical procedures (NRMP) by connecting with the child’s world and understanding their perspective. This involves building relationships, sensitivity, advocacy, and balancing care with procedure completion.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Child Psychology
- Healthcare Experiences
Background:
- Children frequently experience significant fear during hospitalization, particularly related to nursing procedures like injections and needles.
- Nurses play a crucial role in mitigating children's distress and negative experiences associated with needle-related medical procedures (NRMP).
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore and describe the lived experiences of nurses supporting children undergoing NRMP.
- To gain insight into the essential constituents of providing effective nursing support during these procedures.
Main Methods:
- A qualitative study employing a reflective lifeworld research approach.
- Phenomenological analysis of 20 interviews with 14 nurses.
Main Results:
- Supporting children during NRMP involves meeting them in their own world and understanding their perspective.
- Key elements include developing relationships, sensitivity to non-verbal cues, judicious use of restraint, advocacy, time adjustment, and maintaining belief.
- Nurses must balance supportive actions with the procedural requirements of NRMP.
Conclusions:
- Effective support requires nurses to individualize care, entering the child's world and adapting actions accordingly.
- The process is complex, demanding a delicate balance akin to 'balancing on a tightrope' in unpredictable situations.
- Collaboration with parents and careful consideration of restraint are important factors in supporting children during NRMP.
Abstract:
Children state that among their worst fears during hospitalization are those related to various nursing procedures and to injections and needles. Nurses thus have a responsibility to help children cope with needle-related medical procedures (NRMP) and the potentially negative effects of these. The aim of the study is to describe the lived experience of supporting children during NRMP, from the perspective of nurses. Fourteen nurses took part in the study, six of whom participated on two occasions thus resulting in 20 interviews. A reflective lifeworld research approach was used, and phenomenological analysis was applied. The result shows that supporting children during NRMP is characterized by a desire to meet the child in his/her own world and by an effort to reach the child's horizon of understanding regarding these actions, based on the given conditions. The essential meaning of the phenomenon is founded on the following constituents: developing relationships through conversation, being sensitive to embodied responses, balancing between tact and use of restraint, being the child's advocate, adjusting time, and maintaining belief. The discussion focuses on how nurses can support children through various types of conversation and by receiving help from the parents' ability to be supportive, and on whether restraint can be supportive or not for children during NRMP. Our conclusion is that nurses have to see each individual child, meet him/her in their own world, and decide on supportive actions while at the same time balancing their responsibility for the completion of the NRMP. This work can be described as "balancing on a tightrope" in an unpredictable situation.
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