Emotional responses to paediatric hospitalisation

This paper reports on an investigation of the emotional adjustment by children and their parents to paediatric hospital admission for planned ear, nose and throat surgery. It discusses the first phase of that adjustment and the importance of the initial clinic consultation in shaping subsequent coping. The study developed directly from clinical practice and the findings are expected to feed back into practice. The assessment of an experimental approach to preparation, which tests the efficacy of a fresh appraisal of the way in which children and their parents are prepared for this elective surgery, is studied. While there are important findings that relate to all three phases of the experience, that is, the pre-admission, in-hospital and post-hospital adjustment phases, the impact of the initial clinic consultation alone is discussed in relation to the implications for practice arising from the study.