Children's interaction with a dog when having Animal Assisted Activity in paediatric hospital care.

The aim of the study was to investigate the interaction process between child and dog and how it possibly affects children's wellbeing during Animal Assisted Activity. Children have reported negative feelings such as fear and anxiety when being cared for in hospital and various kinds of complementary treatment can alleviate this. Different complementary treatments, including interaction with a dog, can create positive emotions and the treatment has been reported to have both physiological and psychological beneficial effects. However, there is a lack of studies describing children's interaction with a dog. This is an observational study, analysed from field notes with qualitative content analysis using a deductive approach. Children (n = 49) aged 3-18 years of age at a paediatric hospital voluntarily participated in the study. The results are reported on a six-level scale that describes the child-dog interaction: 1. Passive interaction, 2. One-way non-spoken communication, 3. Facilitating the interaction, 4. Interaction by activity encouragement, 5. Interaction initiated by the child, and 6. Interaction through deepened interplay. All children attained level five. Eighty-nine per cent attained level six and these children interacted fully, having a two-way deepened interplay with the dog. Further, when the interaction proceeded to a deepened interplay this affected the children positively both physically and emotionally. Structured Animal Assisted Activity with a dog that includes an introduction, an active part and a relaxing part is a suitable model to offer children in paediatric hospital care since the children attained a child-initiated interaction or interaction through deepened interplay.

Effectiveness of art-based distraction on reducing pediatric patients' pain and anxiety during venipuncture: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Venipuncture is a common procedure resulting in intense discomfort, anxiety, and pain in children. In this regard, we examined the effectiveness of a simple and practical art-based intervention on pain and anxiety in children who underwent venipuncture procedures. METHOD: In this parallel randomized control trial, children aged 6-12 years were randomly allocated to either an intervention or a control group. The intervention group (n = 73) received an art-based intervention called Trace Image and Coloring for Kids-Book (TICK-B) during the venipuncture procedure compared to no intervention in the control group (n = 71). The children, their parents, and an observer nurse rated the outcomes 1-2 min after the venipuncture procedure was finished. FINDINGS: The patients in the intervention group had a substantially lower mean value of pain and anxiety-as rated by children, their parents, and an observer nurse-compared to the control patients. The average values of pain reported by the children, parents, and observer nurse were 3.50, 3.52, and 3.49 in the intervention group in contrast to 6.53, 6.59, and 6.45 in the control group (a large effect). Similarly, the patients in the intervention group had significantly lower mean values of anxiety compared to the control group: 0.88, 1.43, and 1.42 vs. 3.09, 2.52, and 2.52, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that TICK-B is an effective technique to reduce the levels of pain and anxiety in children undergoing venipuncture procedures. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The TICK-B can be used easily by nurses to relieve the pain of children during venipuncture procedures. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trial Registry, NCT04690257. Registered on December 30, 2020.

Using ICF to Describe Problems With Functioning in Everyday Life for Children Who Completed Treatment for Brain Tumor: An Analysis Based on Professionals' Documentation.

Background: Children treated for brain tumors often experience persistent problems affecting their activity performance and participation in everyday life, especially in school. Linking these problems to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) classification system can be described as affecting body function, activity performance, and/or participation. Services involved in the everyday life of the child have different focus and goals when meeting the child in context, which advantage the use of ICF to overcome this impediment to follow-up and provide comprehensive support for children who have completed treatment for a brain tumor. Aim: The aim of the study was to use the ICF classification system to describe how professionals in healthcare, habilitation, and school document problems with everyday life functioning at body, activity, and participation levels for children who completed treatment for a brain tumor. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of records from healthcare, habilitation, and school concerning nine children completed treatment for brain tumor was implemented. Identified problems in everyday life were linked to ICF codes. Descriptive statistics of ICF-linked code frequency supplemented by network visualization diagrams viewing the co-occurrence between codes within the body, activity participation, and environmental components were performed. Results: Most documented problems were found in healthcare records, whereas the documentation in habilitation and school was sparse. The frequently occurring codes, independent of record source, were linked to the body function component, and ICF-linked problems in habilitation and school were salient in the activity and participation component. To gain a holistic picture of relations between ICF codes and problems, network visualization diagrams were used to illustrate clusters of problems. Conclusion: Code prevalence likely reflects where healthcare professionals and educators focus their attention when meeting the needs of children treated for a brain tumor in context. To maximize the comprehensive view of functioning and participation of children in everyday life, the full range of difficulties regarding body impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions must be identified and linked to each other in patterns of co-occurrence, which the ICF facilitate. However, ICF provides no guidance on how to identify networks of problems within the body, activity, and participation. Identifying such networks is important for building comprehensive interventions for children.

Nurses' experiences of what constitutes the encounter with children visiting a sick parent at an adult ICU.

BACKGROUND: Despite a cultural change in visitation policies for children (0-17 years) at the intensive care unit (ICU) to a more open approach, children are still restricted from visiting for various reasons. To overcome these obstacles, it is vital to determine what is needed while encountering a child. AIM: To elucidate nurses' experiences of what constitutes the encounter with children visiting a sick parent at an adult ICU. METHOD: An explorative inductive qualitative design was used, entailing focus group interviews with 23 nurses working at a general ICU. The interviews were analysed according to inductive content analysis. RESULTS: The findings show components that constitute the encounter with children as relatives at the ICU, as experienced by ICU nurses: nurses need to be engaged and motivated; parents need to be motivated; the child needs individual guidance; and a structured follow-up is needed. This reflects a child-focused encounter. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses need to adopt a holistic view, learn to see and care for the child individually, and be able to engage parents in supporting their children. To accomplish this the nurses need engagement and motivation, and must have knowledge about what constitutes a caring encounter, in order to achieve a caring child-focused encounter.

Development and psychometric testing of Holistic Clinical Assessment Tool (HCAT) for undergraduate nursing students.

BACKGROUND: A major focus in nursing education is on the judgement of clinical performance, and it is a complex process due to the diverse nature of nursing practice. A holistic approach in assessment of competency is advocated. Difficulties in the development of valid and reliable assessment measures in nursing competency have resulted in the development of assessment instruments with an increase in face and content validity, but few studies have tested these instruments psychometrically. It is essential to develop a holistic assessment tool to meet the needs of the clinical education. The study aims to develop a Holistic Clinical Assessment Tool (HCAT) and test its psychometric properties. METHODS: The HCAT was developed based on the systematic literature review and the findings of qualitative studies. An expert panel was invited to evaluate the content validity of the tool. A total of 130 final-year nursing undergraduate students were recruited to evaluate the psychometric properties (i.e. factor structure, internal consistency and test-retest reliability) of the tool. RESULTS: The HCAT has good content validity with content validity index of .979. The exploratory factor analysis reveals a four-factor structure of the tool. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the HCAT are satisfactory with Cronbach alpha ranging from .789 to .965 and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient ranging from .881 to .979 for the four subscales and total scale. CONCLUSIONS: HCAT has the potential to be used as a valid measure to evaluate clinical competence in nursing students, and provide specific and ongoing feedback to enhance the holistic clinical learning experience. In addition, HCAT functions as a tool for self-reflection, peer-assessment and guides preceptors in clinical teaching and assessment.

Support from healthcare services during transition to adulthood - Experiences of young adult survivors of pediatric cancer.

PURPOSE: Improved survival rates of pediatric cancer have drawn attention on how to best facilitate long-term follow up and transition from pediatric to adult care. The transition process is multifactorial and necessitates the joint involvement of the patient, the family and the healthcare providers. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of support from healthcare services during the transition from adolescence to adulthood described by young adult survivors of pediatric cancer. METHODS: A mixed method with a convergent parallel design was used to evaluate the experiences of receiving support from healthcare services (eg pediatric oncology and pediatric clinic) during transition from adolescence to adulthood described by young adult survivors of pediatric cancer (n = 213) in a nation wide cross-sectional survey. RESULTS: A quantitative assessment of the experienced extent and satisfaction of support from healthcare services to handle physical, mental and social changes to continue life after the disease showed that a majority of the participants had received insufficient support. The qualitative analysis indicated a need for equal roles in healthcare to promote participation, a need to manage and process consequences of the disease, and a need for continuous support. CONCLUSIONS: During transition to adulthood, there's a need for a personalized care plan that takes a holistic approach towards supporting the young cancer survivor in managing life in the best way. Identifying and handling the individual needs of pediatric cancer survivors is important for providing the resources and support required to increase the likelihood of successful transition to adulthood.

A systematic review of clinical assessment for undergraduate nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Consolidated clinical practicum prepares pre-registration nursing students to function as beginning practitioners. The clinical competencies of final-year nursing students provide a key indication of professional standards of practice and patient safety. Thus, clinical assessment of nursing students is a crucial issue for educators and administrators. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review was to explore the clinical competency assessment for undergraduate nursing students. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, CINAHL, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and EBSCO were systematically searched from January 2000 to December 2013. METHODS: The systematic review was in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Published quantitative and qualitative studies that examined clinical assessment practices and tools used in clinical nursing education were retrieved. Quality assessment, data extraction, and analysis were completed on all included studies. RESULTS: This review screened 2073 titles, abstracts and full-text records, resulting in 33 included studies. Two reviewers assessed the quality of the included studies. Fourteen quantitative and qualitative studies were identified for this evaluation. The evidence was ordered into emergent themes; the overarching themes were current practices in clinical assessment, issues of learning and assessment, development of assessment tools, and reliability and validity of assessment tools. CONCLUSION: There is a need to develop a holistic clinical assessment tool with reasonable level of validity and reliability. Clinical assessment is a robust activity and requires collaboration between clinical partners and academia to enhance the clinical experiences of students, the professional development of preceptors, and the clinical credibility of academics.

Protecting family interests: an interview study with foreign-born parents struggling on in childhood cancer care.

Sweden's population is gradually changing to become more multiethnic and diverse and that applies also for recipients of health care, including childhood cancer care. A holistic view on the sick child in the context of its family has always been a cornerstone in childhood cancer care in Sweden. The purpose of this study was to gain knowledge about the experiences and main concern of foreign-born parents in the context of paediatric cancer care. Interviews were performed with eleven foreign-born parents and data were analysed using a classic grounded theory approach. Foreign-born parents often feel in a position of powerless dependence, but family interests are protected in their approaches to interaction with healthcare staff, through cooperation, contesting, and reluctant resigning. Healthcare staff need to listen to foreign-born parents and deal with their concerns seriously to prevent powerless-dependence and work for trustful cooperation in the common fight against childhood cancer.

Massage therapy in post-operative rehabilitation of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy - a pilot study.

AIM: The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the use of massage therapy in children with cerebral palsy undergoing post-operative rehabilitation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Three participants were randomized to massage therapy and another three participants to rest. All children had undergone surgery in one or two lower limbs. Pain, wellbeing, sleep quality, heart rate and qualitative data were collected for each child. RESULTS: The scores of pain intensity and discomfort were low in all participants. Heart rate decreased in participants who were randomized to rest, but no change was found in the massage therapy group. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of decrease in heart rate in the study group of massage therapy may imply an increased sensitivity to touch in the post-operative setting. Further research with larger study populations are needed to evaluate how and when massage therapy is useful for children with cerebral palsy.

Views on health information and perceptions of standardized electronic records among staff in Child and School Health Services.

AIM: To investigate how nurses and physicians in the Child and School Health Services view the documentation and transfer of health information. Another aim concerns their perceptions of a nationally standardized electronic health record. BACKGROUND: Problems of mental health among children and adolescents currently pose one of the greatest challenges facing all European countries. The continuity of health work demands that all health information follow the child's development, disregarding the organizational arrangement. METHODS: The study was descriptive and comprised 484 questionnaires to nurses and physicians in the Child and School Health Services in Sweden. RESULTS: More information about children's health was transferred than documented in the health record when children started school. This additional health information concerned psychosocial health and foremost family function. There was a consensus concerning the usefulness of a nationally standardized electronic health record, although there were group differences between nurses and physicians. CONCLUSIONS: All information about children's health is not documented although the professional's positive perceptions to electronic health records may provide a basis to improve documentation. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The results indicate challenges to develop a common language to document psychosocial issues necessary for providing a holistic view of children's health.

Children's experiences of procedural pain management in conjunction with trauma wound dressings.

AIM: This paper is a report of the experiences of children (5-10 years) of procedural pain when they underwent a trauma wound care session. BACKGROUND: Procedural pain in conjunction with trauma wound care often induces anxiety and distress in children. Children need to alleviate pain and avoid the development of fear in conjunction with examinations and treatments. The nurse could help children to reach this goal by using the comfort theory, which describes holistic nursing in four contexts: physical, psychospiritual, environmental and sociocultural. Few studies have focused on children's experiences of comforting activities in conjunction with trauma wound dressings. METHODS: This study was conducted between May 2008 and January 2010. Thirty-nine participants aged 5-10 were consecutively included in this study. The wound care session was standardized for all the participants, and semi-structured qualitative interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with all the children in conjunction with the procedure. All the interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed with qualitative content analysis. FINDINGS: Four themes were identified: clinical competence, distraction, participation and security. The children were helped to reach comforting activities to enhance pain management. CONCLUSION: Children require more than just analgesics in wound care. They also need to experience security and participation in this context. When children feel clinical competence in wound care, they trust the nurse to carry out the wound dressing and instead can focus on the distraction that increases their positive outcomes.

Parents' views on information in childhood cancer care.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study is to highlight parents' views on information in childhood cancer care. METHOD: A qualitative design, appropriate to gain a holistic view, has been chosen. Eight families with children diagnosed with cancer, of various ages and gender and from various backgrounds, participated in five interviews each during the first year of the child's illness. RESULTS: If the parents' needs were fulfilled, they were better equipped to handle the illness of their child, which is totally dependant on how the matter of information is dealt with. Information is a complex and demanding issue for the persons involved and the families' views were divergent in this area. Sometimes they seemed to obtain the information successfully and sometimes there were great problems in this respect. Therefore their preferences must be considered. CONCLUSION: There has to be an improvement from the aspects of what, when and how information is provided. The major findings of this study indicate that the families need better support and more distinct instructions to be able to cope with the situation.

School-aged children's experiences of postoperative music medicine on pain, distress, and anxiety.

AIM: To test whether postoperative music listening reduces morphine consumption and influence pain, distress, and anxiety after day surgery and to describe the experience of postoperative music listening in school-aged children who had undergone day surgery. BACKGROUND: Music medicine has been proposed to reduce distress, anxiety, and pain. There has been no other study that evaluates effects of music medicine (MusiCure) in children after minor surgery. METHODS: Numbers of participants who required analgesics, individual doses, objective pain scores (Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability [FLACC]), vital signs, and administration of anti-emetics were documented during postoperative recovery stay. Self-reported pain (Coloured Analogue Scale [CAS]), distress (Facial Affective Scale [FAS]), and anxiety (short State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI]) were recorded before and after surgery. In conjunction with the completed intervention semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted. RESULTS: Data were recorded from 80 children aged 7-16. Forty participants were randomized to music medicine and another 40 participants to a control group. We found evidence that children in the music group received less morphine in the postoperative care unit, 1/40 compared to 9/40 in the control group. Children's individual FAS scores were reduced but no other significant differences between the two groups concerning FAS, CAS, FLACC, short STAI, and vital signs were shown. Children experienced the music as 'calming and relaxing.' CONCLUSIONS: Music medicine reduced the requirement of morphine and decreased the distress after minor surgery but did not else influence the postoperative care.

Children's knowledge and degree of participation in decision making when undergoing a clinical diagnostic procedure.

Twenty-three children, (6-11 years, 9 boys and 14 girls), admitted to a pediatric day care department for a planned diagnostic procedure were interviewed with the aim of investigating their level of knowledge regarding a current diagnostic procedure, and the level of participation in discussions and decision making relating to their hospitalization. While the children were being interviewed, their attendant parent completed a questionnaire. The children's level of knowledge was documented and graded. The children's statements and their parents' evaluation of the information given to the child were sorted into groups and compared. The children's descriptions of their participation in discussions and decision-making were assessed and summarized. Finally, the children's and their parents' experiences of the children's anxiety and fear before the hospital visit were compared. The children were undergoing different kinds of diagnostic procedures and they had received information from different people. They were prepared for their admission in different ways, and had participated in discussions and decisions to various degrees. Despite this preparation, it would be safe to state that the participants as a group were not very well informed nor did they participate fully. More knowledge is needed regarding how to prepare each child prior to admission, before, during, and after the hospital visit and which additional factors, e.g., trust and a familiar environment, have influence on the child's experience.