Abstract

Hospitalization and surgery have been recognized as being psychologically stressful for the majority of children. Hospital personnel have attempted to reduce some of the unnecessary psychological stress incurred by children by the use of many different methods. This study attempted to evaluate the use of preoperative play preparation sessions for minimizing this stress. The method was experimental with one variable. The subjects were forty-one children aged three and one-half to seven and one-half who had adeno-tonsillectomies. Twenty-one children comprising Group E were involved in a play session by the researchers. Twenty children were not prepared in this way. The tools used were a questionnaire concerned with the child's anxiety behavior two weeks postoperatively, the House-Tree-Person Projective Psychological Test, and situational play interviews concerned with the level of anxiety displayed by the child the first morning postoperatively. A higher numerical score averaged from testing by the three tools was regarded as evidence of a higher level of anxiety in one group as compared to the other. The data gathered for this study revealed that Group E demonstrated a higher anxiety score than did Group C. The hypothesis for this study that the children who were prepared by a play session would demonstrate a lower anxiety score than those who were not prepared in this way, was not supported. The data showed that more types of preparation had been given to Group E than to Group C possibly indicating that an excess amount of preparation might cause a higher anxiety index. With a sample of this size, however, only tentative conclusions can be drawn. The difference between the two groups was not significant on a t test.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Ina M. Longway

Second Advisor

Wynelle J. Huff

Third Advisor

Robert F. Chinnock

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1968

Date (Title Page)

8-1968

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Tonsillectomy -- in infancy & childhood; Preoperative Care -- in infancy & childhood; Hospitalization -- in infancy & childhood

Type

Thesis

Page Count

viii; 116

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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