Promoting Adaptation of the Young Child During an Outpatient Surgical Admission Assessment

This study used an experimental design to investigate whether the timing of a child\u27s admission physical assessment, either before or after an interview with the child\u27s parent(s), had an effect on the upset and cooperation behaviors exhibited by the child during the physical exam.; Thirty-two children, age 12 to 36 months, who were scheduled for elective outpatient surgery were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups.; The hypothesis of the study was that children who were examined after the interview would exhibit less upset behaviors and be more cooperative with the examining nurse. It was hypothesized that these children would demonstrate less stress behavior because they were given the opportunity to orient to the surroundings and feel somewhat comfortable with the nurse while their parents were being interviewed. Analysis of the data indicated there were no significant differences between the two groups for either behavior scale. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.