Healthcare provider-child-parent communication in the preoperative surgical setting.
OBJECTIVE
Although preoperative preparation programs were once common, most children currently undergoing outpatient surgery are first exposed to the hospital on the day of the procedure. It is advocated that these outpatient children undergo the preparation just prior to surgery.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the amount of time that healthcare providers spend with children and families on the day of surgery in the preoperative area.


METHODS
The study used video infrastructure in the preoperative holding area of Yale New Haven Children's Hospital to record all interactions between children, families, and healthcare providers. Videotapes were coded to characterize and quantify behaviors of healthcare professionals.


RESULTS
On the day of surgery, healthcare providers spent medians of 2.75-4.81 min interacting with children and parents in the preoperative area. Families spent a median of 46.5 min in the preoperative area. Healthcare professionals spent the most time in medical talk (averages of 42.5-48.2% of time spent with family) and little time was spent in nonmedical talk (range of 6.2-6.9% of time spent with family). Anesthesiologists and surgeons spent 28% and 18% of the interview in talk to children; admitting nurses spent more of the interview talking to children (43%).


CONCLUSIONS
Families interact with healthcare providers for only a small proportion of the time they spent in the preoperative area. This is likely to be a result of increased production pressure in the perioperative settings and has implications for providing preparation for surgery on the morning of the procedure.
Kain
Zeev N
ZN
Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care, Pediatrics & Psychiatry, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA. zkain@uci.edu
MacLaren
Jill E
JE
Hammell
Carrie
C
Novoa
Cristina
C
Fortier
Michelle A
MA
Huszti
Heather
H
Mayes
Linda
L
D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D010290:Parents; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D014743:Videotape Recording