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Surgery and children. A colorful way to introduce children to surgery
1Ambulatory Surgery Center, Sinai Hospital, Baltimore.
Insights
Your Operation Day, a preoperative teaching tool, effectively reduces anxiety and fear for children and parents facing surgery. This program also leads to fewer late or canceled procedures, improving surgical scheduling and patient experience.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Perioperative Nursing
- Patient Education
Background:
- Preoperative anxiety and fear of the unknown are common in pediatric surgical patients and their families.
- Late or canceled surgical procedures can disrupt patient flow and increase healthcare costs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of "Your Operation Day," a preoperative teaching tool, on patient and parental anxiety.
- To assess the effect of the tool on the incidence of late or canceled surgical procedures.
Main Methods:
- Implementation of "Your Operation Day," a nonthreatening introduction to surgery using a coloring book format.
- Involvement of parents and siblings in the child's surgical preparation process.
Main Results:
- Significant reduction in anxiety levels and fear of the unknown for both children and parents.
- Decrease in the number of late or canceled surgical procedures.
Conclusions:
- "Your Operation Day" serves as an effective preoperative teaching tool, enhancing patient and family preparedness.
- The program fosters a supportive network, aiding in the perioperative nursing process initiation before patient contact.
Abstract:
Since the introduction of Your Operation Day in 1984, the center has found that the anxiety level and the fear of the unknown for both the parents and the child have been reduced. The number of late or cancelled procedures also has been reduced. A preoperative teaching tool such as Your Operation Day presents the child and the parents with a nonthreatening introduction to surgery at the center. Parents, and often siblings, become involved with the patient's experience and create a supportive, understanding network for the child. In preparing the child and the parents through the use of the coloring book, the ambulatory surgery nurses can begin the perioperative nursing process even before meeting the patient.