Children intensive care unit experiences with own drawing

Objective: Children may be afraid to ask questions and express their feelings because of the abundance of unknowns in the disease and treatment process. The purpose of the study was to determine the intensive care experience of children by using the drawing-narrative method. Material and Methods: This descriptive research model was conducted with 32 children aged 6-12 years who were in the intensive care unit. Children were asked to draw a picture describing a day in the intensive care unit with a size of 25∗35 and 12 colored crayons. Following the completion of each drawing, members of the research team conducted a semi-structured interview to explain the pictures of children. Since a suitable evaluation tool was not found in the literature, a qualitative content analysis approach was used in the analysis of drawings. Results: When the children's drawings about the intensive care environment were examined, the child's perceptions about the intensive care environment, the perceptions of them in the intensive care setting and their perceptions about the intensive care team were created under the main theme of the intensive care environment. While the intensive care environment in the drawings was shown to be similar to the clinic, it was seen that some children did not draw a drawing about the physical characteristics of the intensive care environment in their drawings. Half of the children draw themselves as they laugh, while the other half draws/unhappy. Conclusion: Nearly half of the children had negative experiences with the intensive care setting. © 2020 OrtadogŸu Reklam Tanitim Yayincilik Turizm Egitim Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.. All rights reserved