During cancer treatment children are required to undergo many types of invasive procedures, including venipuncture, bone marrow aspirations, and lumbar punctures. These medical procedures invoke many negative symptoms including distress, pain, anxiety, and fear. The purpose of this thesis was to determine the most effective nursing interventions to decrease negative symptoms in pediatric oncology patients during invasive procedures. This integrated literature review examined evidence regarding the effects of distraction interventions used during procedures performed on children with cancer published between 1999 and 2009.
Results showed that current research on distraction interventions included using virtual reality, electronic toys, nonessential touch, music therapy, and mixed distractors. Although all of the studies showed that distraction was effective at decreasing negative symptoms in children with cancer no single form of distraction stood out above the rest. Results indicated that distraction interventions were considered beneficial by the parents, and had a favorable impact on the quality of life of pediatric cancer patients. By using evidence based distraction interventions, nurses can improve the quality of life in children undergoing invasive procedures by decreasing the occurrence of experienced distress, pain, fear, and anxiety in this patient population. This review of literature will provide nurses with recommendations for nursing practice, allowing them to make informed decisions concerning the effectiveness and safety of their patients' care.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-1975 |
| Date | 01 January 2010 |
| Creators | Bramley, Chelsea L. |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | HIM 1990-2015 |
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