Effects of Active Participation and Education of Caregivers on Peripheral Intravenous Injections for Their Child

This study was to determine the effects of active participation and education of caregivers on the pain experienced by their hospitalized children, the anxiety of the caregivers, and the working efficiency of nurses when administering peripheral intravenous (IV) injections to their children. It was found IV injections were the most feared procedures experienced by inpatient pediatric patients. A quasi-experimental design used in which different types of treatment were given to subjects in three groups. All caregivers received brief verbal information about the peripheral IV injection procedure for their child. Those in the control group then stayed outside the treatment room, those in the first experimental group observed the procedure, and those in the second experimental group participated actively in the procedure for their child after additionally receiving written information about it. Hospitalized children’s pain level did not differ among the three study groups (F=1.18, p=.323) while caregivers’ anxiety level differed being lowest in the second experimental group (F=5.98, p=.001). The nursing action duration of performing the intravenous injection was longest and shortest in the first and control group, respectively (F=5.07, p=.003). This study shows that active participation and education of caregivers decreased the caregiver’s anxiety during peripheral IV injections for their children, while the absence of caregivers shortened the duration of performing the IV injection. The outcomes of caregiver anxiety and the duration of the IV injection were worse for caregivers who observed their child without receiving additional education about or participating in the injection.