DISTRACTION TECHNIQUES: TELLING STORIES TO DECREASE PAIN FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN DURING INFUSION

Abstract

DISTRACTION TECHNIQUES: TELLING STORIES TO DECREASE PAIN FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN DURING INFUSION Lina Dewi Anggraeni*, Widiyanti Sint Carolus School of Health Sciences, Jakarta 10440, Indonesia *E-mail: linadewiam@gmail.com Abstract Hospital procedures, such as infusions, are often associated with pain. Preschool-aged children who are hospitalized for infusions will often exhibit a strong fearful response because their concept of body integrity has not fully developed. One way to reduce the fear of infusion pain is by using stories as a distraction technique. The purpose of this study was to identify differences in the scale of pain between members of an intervention group, to which the distraction technique was applied, and a control group, to which it was not applied. The study used quasi-experimental methods, with intervention and control groups. The study was conducted on 46 preschool aged respondents (3–6 years old), divided into a 34 member intervention group and a 12 member control group and ran from September to December 2017 in one of the private hospitals in the East Bekasi. The research employed a questionnaire to collect demographic data and used the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Scale to assess pain levels. The data analysis technique used was the independent ttest. The results showed there was a difference of pain response between the intervention and control groups with P value < 0.05. Pediatric nurses are advised to use storytelling therapy as an option for providing atraumatic care intervention. Keywords: distraction technique, infusion installation, pain, stories, preschool