Effects of the Instructive Therapeutic Toy on Intravenous Therapy for Hospitalized Children

Abstract

Introduction: The instructive therapeutic toy can reveal the needs implicit to the patient and help them understand the methodologies, diagnoses and therapies to which they will be subjected, which promotes his peace of mind, safety and agreement with treatment, in addition to providing better interaction with healthcare professionals.

Objective: To analyze the effects of using the instructive therapeutic toy in the preparation of the hospitalized child prior to performing intravenous therapy.

Methods: Quasiexperimental study with a quantitative approach, carried out in a public pediatric hospital in Juazeiro do Norte City, Ceará, Brazil. The study population consisted of 31 preschool and school-age children. Data collection was carried out from July to September 2019, through observation, and the analysis was carried out by means of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program, using t-test and McNemar’s test.

Results: There was a statistically significant reduction in all the variables that indicate the child´s lower acceptance of intravenous therapy, with the exception of the variable they collaborate passively. However, there was a statistically significant increase in some variables that indicate the child’s greater acceptance of intravenous therapy.

Conclusion: The instructive therapeutic toy is established as a fundamental technological tool for promoting responsibility, autonomy and co-responsibility of health care, valuating the subject/user as a singular human being, and the deconstruction of dehumanized health practices, especially in pediatric nursing.