Effect of Using Non Pharmacological Methods on Relief of Pain and Fear among Children Undergoing Venipuncture

Abstract

Pain relief is an important issue to be discussed in addition to how distraction techniques during painful procedures should be used to guide children's attention away from the painful stimuli. The study aimed to evaluate effect of using non pharmacological methods on relief of pain and fear among children undergoing venipuncture. Research design: An experimental study was undertaken on children from 3 to 6 years old who were undergoing venipuncture. Setting: the current study was conducted in pediatric outpatient clinics and pediatric wards at Sohag University Hospital from May to November 2016. The study sample included 90 preschool age children selected through purposive sampling method. They were divided into 3 equal groups, (30 children in bubbles distraction group, 30 children in cartoon distraction group and 30 children in control group). Tools: four tools were used as the following: A structured questionnaire, Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale and Children's Fear Scale. Results: In the current study 53.3% of children were females 46.7% were males in distraction group with a mean age of 4.3+1.4 years. A highly significant difference regarding the mean scores of pain on numeric rating scale between distraction groups and. Conclusion: Non pharmacological methods are effective distraction techniques for relief of pain and fear among children during venipuncture. Recommendation: Application of the practice of cartoon and bubbles distraction during intravenous injection is recommended among nurses in the care of children in order to reduce pain and fear related to intravenous injection.