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Before Anesthesia: Your Active Role Makes a Difference
Having Anesthesia?
After Anesthesia: Your Active Role Assists Your Recovery
Anesthesia
Options for Labor and Delivery
Opciones de
Anestesia Para Labores de Parto:
Lo Que Toda Mujer Embarazada Deberķa Saber
Preparing for Your Child's Surgery and
Anesthesia
Herbal
Products and Your Anesthetic
Conscious
Sedation: What Patients Should Expect
Council
for Public Interest in Anesthesia
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Preparing for Your Child's Surgery and Anesthesia ... A Parent's Role
 Surgery can be an
emotional time. When the surgery is to be performed on your child, it
is especially stressful. There are things you can do to reduce the
chance that your fears and anxieties, as a parent, will be transferred
to your child. Children who are less anxious and less fearful have an
easier time before and after surgery.
Remember your emotions
and anxiety level influence your child. Keep calm and in control of
your emotions to help your child do the same. Follow the
recommendations listed to accomplish this goal. For more information,
talk with your child's physician, surgeon and nurse as well as staff
at the hospital or surgicenter.
To Help You and Your
Child Before Surgery and Anesthesia:
- Obtain accurate
information about your child's procedure and about what to expect.
- Talk with the surgeon,
without your child, to get all the information you need.
- Ask if there is a
pre-admission program for children and, if so, participate in it.
- Allow your child to
share fears and concerns with you. Do not interrupt, minimize, or
belittle your child. Let your child know that it is okay to feel
afraid.
- Answer your child's
questions honestly. If you don't know the answer, find out.
- Discuss the separation
procedure with your doctor or nurse. How will your child be
transferred from you to the healthcare provider? For example, if your
child is an infant, will you be able to hold your child until the
sedative takes effect?
- Compare the time your
child will be in surgery to the length of a favorite cartoon or video.
- Let your child know to
expect some pain after the surgery by saying, "When they wake you
up, it will probably hurt."
- Be present for your
child's immediate postoperative recovery period, if recommended by the
anesthesia provider. In some settings it may be possible to be present
for the beginning of the anesthesia.
- Be there with your
child. Sit at the bedside and comfort your child. If appropriate,
snuggle, cuddle, hold and touch your child.
- Ask about rooming-in
with your child.
- Control your emotions
and your behavior. Remember, although you may be very upset and
anxious, display a calm, soothing, trusting manner.
- Try to avoid crying in
front of your child.
- Take "2" for
you! Take two minutes (or longer) out of sight of your child to
express your emotions and focus yourself on what your child needs from
you -- support!
- Be honest. It is wrong
to tell your child "it won't hurt" or that he/she is going
to a birthday party when they are really going to the hospital.
Telling your child that he or she is going to take a "nap"
may raise fears later when the word "nap is mentioned to your
child. Instead, tell your child, "The doctor or nurse will give
you medicine to make you sleep so it won't hurt when the doctor fixes
your _____. The doctor and nurse will wake you up when they are
done."
- Alleviate your child's
fears. In no way should you threaten your child by saying something
like "If you're bad, they're going to stick you with a
needle."
- Give some facts calmly,
but without being too graphic or detailed about what your child will
experience. If you don't know the answer, say, "we'll ask."
- Remember your role as a
parent. Your emotions and behavior can have an impact on your child's
outcome, so take your role as the parent very seriously.
Going Home
Ask your child's doctor and
nurse what you can do to care for your child after surgery and
anesthesia.
References
LaMontange, Lynda L., Joseph T. Hepworth, Kathleen C. Byington, and
Celeste Y. Chang, "Child and Parent Emotional Responses During
Hospitalization for Orthopaedic Surgery: More about the Emotional
Contagion Between PArental Anxiety and Their Child's Anxiety,"
MCN, American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 22, 1997, pp.
299-303.
Zuckerberg, Aaron L.,
"Perioperative Approach to Children," Pediatric Clinics of
North America, 41(1), 1994, pp. 15-29.
Websites
A listing of Children's
Hospitals in the United States:
http://directory.google.com/Top/Health/Medicine/Hospitals/Children/
About the Council
for Public Interest in Anesthesia
Established by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA)
in 1975, the Council addresses issues concerned with anesthesia care,
patient safety and public education. The 11 member Council includes
representatives from the public, hospital administration, the
insurance industry, the anesthesia professions of nursing and
medicine, and other healthcare professions.
Updated 2002
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