Bruner's theory of instruction and preprocedural anxiety in the pediatric population

This article explores the use of J. S. Bruner's theory of instruction as it relates to preprocedural teaching and anxiety in children. The primary concept of the theory is representation, which is the ability to combine past experiences with current stimuli to translate an event into a model of the world. The enactive, iconic and symbolic modes are different stages of representation. Bruner's theory is compared with different levels of childhood development. From this comparison, a model for instruction is presented. Nurses can use this model for instruction to decrease children's anxiety concerning procedures. It directs nurses to combine a child's current developmental level with an appropriate teaching strategy and guides them in decreasing their clients' preprocedural anxiety levels.