A study to assess the effectiveness of puppet play in reducing preoperative anxiety among children 6-12 years of age, undergoing abdominal surgery at Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Egmore, Chennai

A pre-experimental research design, one group pretest - posttest design was used to assess the effectiveness of Puppet play in reducing preoperative anxiety among children 6-12 years of age, undergoing abdominal surgery at Institute of child health, Egmore, Chennai-8. The tool used for the study consists of demographic data, and Modified Yale preoperative anxiety scale. The population of this study were 60 children of both sexes in the age group of 6 to 12 year. Sample for the study were selected through convenient sampling technique. Conceptual framework used for the study was Wiedenbach’s Helping art of Clinical Nursing Model. The findings of the study revealed that on average, children are having 27.5% of reduction in anxiety score. It shows the effectiveness of study. Puppet play in the form of hand puppet with doctor’s play set was found to be effective in reducing the preoperative anxiety of the children undergoing surgery. Children need adequate information tailored to their needs, and hospital environments need to be made more children centered