Nursing evaluation of pediatric preoperative anxiety: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: to explore and describe how perioperative nurses assess and interpret the child’s behavior before entering the operating room, identifying the strategies they use to reduce anxiety and the proposals for improvements. METHOD: descriptive qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and participant observation of daily routines. Thematic analysis of data. This study follows the recommended criteria for publication of articles of the qualitative methodology Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research. RESULTS: four topics emerged from the data: a) assessment of anxiety or close communication with the child and their family; b) evaluating what was observed; c) managing anxiety and d) improving the assessment or proposals for improvements in daily practice. CONCLUSION: nurses assess anxiety in their daily practice through observation using their clinical judgment. The nurse’s experience is decisive for the appropriate assessment of the preoperative anxiety in child. Insufficient time between waiting and entering the operating room, lack of information from child and their parents about the surgical procedure, and parental anxiety make it difficult to assess and properly manage anxiety.