Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 22, 2025

Making MR Imaging Child's Play - Pediatric Neuroimaging Protocol, Guidelines and Procedure
15:18

Making MR Imaging Child's Play - Pediatric Neuroimaging Protocol, Guidelines and Procedure

Published on: July 30, 2009

18.2K

Exploring perceptions of inpatient hospital attire in children with cancer

Christy M Lucas1,2, Molly C Mack3, Jill Majeski4

  • 1Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Pediatric Blood & Cancer
|July 4, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Children with cancer prefer wearing their own clothes for comfort during hospital stays. They dislike hospital gowns but will wear them if medically necessary, preferring providers to decide when gowns are needed.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Oncology
  • Child Psychology
  • Healthcare Comfort Measures

Background:

  • Hospital attire significantly impacts patient identity, self-expression, and comfort.
  • Hospital gowns are frequently distressing for adult patients.
  • Children with cancer's perspectives on hospital attire are largely unexamined.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate children with cancer's attitudes toward hospital attire.
  • To explore how patient attire influences well-being in pediatric oncology.
  • To identify modifiable factors in hospital care related to patient clothing.

Main Methods:

  • A 39-item mixed-methods survey was administered to children with cancer aged 7-18.
  • Participants were recruited from an academic medical center.
  • Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.

Main Results:

  • 81% of pediatric cancer patients preferred their own clothing over hospital gowns.
  • Comfort levels were higher in personal attire, whether well (91%) or sick (75%).
  • Children expressed negative views of gowns and preferred personal clothing for physical and emotional comfort, though they worried it might impede care.

Conclusions:

  • Children with cancer strongly prefer their own clothing for comfort during hospitalization.
  • Patients are amenable to wearing gowns for clinical necessity but wish to defer the decision to healthcare providers.
  • Adopting a child's own clothing as the default hospital attire, with clear guidelines for gown use, may reduce patient distress.
Abstract

Keywords:
children with cancercomforthospital gownspatient experiencepatient‐reported outcomes (PROs)

More Related Videos

A Standardized Procedure of Dressing Management for Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis07:22

A Standardized Procedure of Dressing Management for Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Published on: March 14, 2025

279
How to Administer Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Critically ill Neonates, Infants, and Children07:27

How to Administer Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Critically ill Neonates, Infants, and Children

Published on: August 19, 2020

11.4K

Related Concept Videos

PPE Use in Healthcare Settings I: Donning01:22

PPE Use in Healthcare Settings I: Donning

Donning PPE must be completed before contact with the patient. This process protects from infectious agents. The sequence and action included in each donning are critical, and the steps must be systematic to avoid exposure to pathogens. The institutional policy also needs to be followed while donning PPE. The pre-donning preparations are gathering equipment, inspecting the PPE equipment for tears, holes, or damage, removing jewelry, removing any garments below the elbows, and tying the hair...
946
PPE Use in Healthcare Settings II: Doffing01:10

PPE Use in Healthcare Settings II: Doffing

The sequence of removing or doffing PPE starts with the gloves, as they are the most contaminated. Next is removal of the face shield or goggles, as they would interfere with removing other PPE. Then remove the gown, followed by the mask or respirator. Perform hand hygiene between steps if hands become contaminated and immediately after removing all PPE. Generally, the outside front and sleeves of the isolation gown, the goggles or the mask, the respirator, and the face shield are contaminated.
894
Hospitals-II00:59

Hospitals-II

Hospitals provide inpatient and outpatient services. Inpatient services provide care to patients that stay in the hospital for an extended period, ranging from days to months. Examples of inpatient services include intensive care units, hospital wards, or surgeries. Outpatient services provide care to patients who come to a hospital for a diagnostic or treatment but do not stay overnight —for example, diagnostic tests, surgical procedures, or health education.
Nurses that work in...
764
Nursing Ethical Principles II01:27

Nursing Ethical Principles II

Ethical principles are essential in guiding nurses to fulfill their responsibilities, focusing on the quality of nursing care and decision-making. These principles, including autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and fidelity, shape the ethical framework within healthcare settings.
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's...
948
Personal Protective Equipment01:20

Personal Protective Equipment

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is unique clothing or equipment worn by an employee to minimize or prevent exposure to infectious agents. PPE creates a barrier between the employee and the infectious materials. PPE must be readily available in the patient care area. PPE includes gloves, gowns and aprons, masks and respirators, goggles, face shields, shoes, and headcovers:
1.5K
Obedience01:08

Obedience

According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation,...
32.9K