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Biomedical subjects

M L Ellerton

Publications and source records attributed to M L Ellerton.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Preparing children and families psychologically for day surgery: an evaluation.

The increasing use of ambulatory care settings for children's surgery places more responsibility on parents for psychological preparation of children for surgery and for their post-operative care. This paper describes the evaluation of a pre-admission programme to prepare children between the ages of 3 and 15 years and their families psychologically for day surgery. Seventy-five families comprised the study sample, 23 in the programme group and 53 in the non-intervention group. The programme focused on familiarizing families with the physical and procedural components of day surgery through a videotape of a family in a naturally occurring day surgery situation, a tour, and hospital play. Fewer children and parents in the programme group reported high anxiety levels awaiting surgery. Children and parents with previous surgical experience reported higher levels of pre-surgical anxiety than inexperienced families. Families reported the physicians and day surgery nurse as their primary sources of information and rated the day surgery nurse highest in their satisfaction with information received. Implications for practice, particularly for meeting the needs of young children and out-of-town families, are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

Preparing kids and parents for surgery.

Advances in medical treatment and increasing financial constraint in health care have made ambulatory surgery more prevalent in all patient populations. Pediatric surgical admissions follows this trend. The responsibility for preparing children for day surgery and caring for them at home immediately afterward rests largely with parents. Yet few parents have experience in or adequate information about this area of care. They may be as fearful as their children about the surgery and anxious about providing post-surgical care.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Mothers' perceptions of coping behaviors in hospitalized preschool children.

This study determined mothers' perceptions of coping in their hospitalized preschool children. Thirty-two mothers were interviewed using open-ended questions to determine their views of coping, what behaviors they described their children using in difficult situations, and what they did to help their children cope. They indicated which of the 40 items on the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC) they considered to be coping behaviors. The answers to the open-ended questions were content analyzed. Twenty-two mothers described coping as an outcome--that is, as the degree of adaptational success. Seventy-five percent or more of the mothers identified 22 of the CCSC behaviors as coping; 15 of these behaviors were from the subscales of Information Seeking, Seeking Comfort/Help, and Growth/Independence. Eight items were viewed by fewer than half of the mothers as coping, and included regression, denial, withdrawal, and control by preventing events. The mothers described the strategies they used to help their children manage difficult situations; the predominant strategies were providing information and comfort. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

Nurses' perceptions of coping behaviors in hospitalized preschool children.

This study examined nurses' perceptions of coping in hospitalized preschool children. Thirty nurses were interviewed using a structured questionnaire and open-ended questions. Analysis included content analysis of the nurses' definitions of coping, strategies used to help children during stressful procedures, and classification of nurses' emotional responses to specific coping behaviors. The majority of nurses defined coping as an outcome, fewer than one third as a process, and none as a trait. Over 80% saw 21 of 40 coping behaviors as coping. Most of these included information-seeking, direct action, seeking help, and movement toward growth or independence. Behaviors that 80% or more of the nurses saw as coping elicited pleasant emotional responses; those that fewer than 50% saw as coping elicited unpleasant responses. Overall, the nurses described 10 types of strategies to help children cope. Only six nurses described more than five types. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1988

Coping behaviors of hospitalized preschool children.

This study examined the coping behaviors of 208 hospitalized preschoolers during high stress and low stress events. The children were observed during 722 events and their behaviors were recorded on the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC). The group included acutely and chronically ill children. While the preschoolers used more coping behaviors in low-stress events than they did in high-stress events, there were very few differences between the number of coping behaviors used by chronically ill and acutely ill children. The tendency to use fewer coping behaviors in high-stress events was more marked in the acutely ill children. There were larger differences in the specific coping behaviors used in high-stress and low-stress events. The types of coping behaviors used most frequently were Information Seeking (watching and visual examination) and Direct Action (tension reducing involving self, control by active participation, and control by preventing or delaying an event). The children used very few Independence/Growth and Intrapsychic coping behaviors. The research and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1984

Concerns of acutely ill, chronically ill, and healthy preschool children.

The study was designed to determine if the concerns of 2- to 5-year-old children hospitalized for chronic illness differ from the concerns of other children. Interviews were conducted with 32 short-stay chronically ill, 10 long-stay chronically ill, 20 acutely ill, and 20 healthy children. Narrative recordings were analyzed using a categorical system of 10 developmental and hospital-related concerns. Differences between groups in mean proportion of concerns expressed were examined for each interview using analysis of variance techniques. The major concerns expressed by each group on all interviews were Autonomy and Exploration and, in the chronically ill children, Intrusion. Increased age was associated with increased expression of Intrusion in all groups except the long-stay chronic illness group.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Coping in hospitalized children: an analysis of published case studies.

This study examined the range of coping behaviors identified by the authors of 39 published case studies of hospitalized children age 20 months to 10 years and the pattern of coping revealed when the behaviors described in the published studies were analyzed according to the category system based on the Lazarus stress and coping paradigm. The behaviors reported in the case studies were subjected to a content analysis of the various labels attributed by the authors to the behaviors and then to a detailed content analysis according to the Type of Coping Behavior Category System. The range of labels of coping behavior used in the case studies showed that there had been no systematic and consistent approach to analysis of the children's coping strategies. The results of the analysis using the category system indicated that the coping strategies could be categorized in a systematic way. The pattern of coping revealed indicates that the system is sensitive to the influence of level of development.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Factors influencing young children's coping behaviors during stressful healthcare encounters.

The authors examined the coping behaviors of 80 preschool children during venipuncture, and selected situational and personal variables thought to influence their coping. The children's behaviors were recorded on the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist-Intrusive Procedures; the helpful behaviors of health professionals were recorded on the Nursing Actions Checklist. Information about specific influencing variables was gathered through questionnaires and parent interviews. The children's report of procedural pain was correlated with the number of coping behaviors used, with the children's attempts to protect themselves, and with helpful nursing interventions. Socioeconomic status, nursing interventions, and preparation for the procedure had low to moderate correlations with number and type of the children's coping behaviors. The results indicate that a child's coping is related to the situation, and the actions of professionals in that situation rather than to the characteristics of the individual child.

Adaptation, Psychological↗