Nursing interventions to reduce preoperative anxiety in school-age children: an integrative review

Abstract

Background: At school age, there is a growing feeling of independence and a growing ability to follow rules and absorb information. Taking these skills into account, the nurse should be responsible for reducing the child’s anxiety. Objective: To describe the nursing interventions which reduce preoperative anxiety in school-age children. Methodology: This is an integrative review (2008-2013), using the B-ON (Online Knowledge Library), EBSCO (Elton Bryson Stephens Company), Portuguese Catholic University Documentation Centre and Google Scholar databases. The search was based on keywords and boolean operators. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined and four articles were considered relevant. Results: During the analysis, the typology of each study was taken into account. The implementation of structured and preoperative programs adapted to children allowed to reduce anxiety, thus making adherence to care and postoperative recovery more effective. Conclusion: Parental support and the quality of pre-admission procedures are essential to help both children and parents find ways of minimising preoperative anxiety.