Family Practice Nursing Commons^™

Distraction Interventions And Play Therapy: Decreasing Fear And Anxiety In Hospitalized Patients Less Than 12 Years, Terence J. Olds, Jordan Conroy, Rebecca Rider, Julia Good, Hannah Peacock

Non-Thesis Student Work

Hospitalization can be a frightening experience for pediatric patients. Addressing these negative emotions greatly impacts their experience, wellbeing, and recovery process. It is crucial to understand and implement strategies that alleviate these negative emotions and promote healing during hospitalization. The authors will review two safe, effective, and reliable methods of alleviating fear and anxiety in hospitalized children under 12 years old; distraction techniques and play therapy. A literature search was conducted on CINAHL and PubMed using the following search criteria: child, youth, kid, play therapy, therapeutic play, anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety, hospital, acute setting, inpatient, and distraction. A total of …