* * * Children in Hospital * * *

Spending time in hospital can be very stressful for children and their parents, and distress can affect how children recover from their illness. Most hospitals today are aware of this and will help you to support your child in hospital. Young children have different ways of thinking from adults and a hospital visit or stay can be very frightening to a child.

Preparing Children to go to Hospital
* Many hospitals allow visits by parents and children before the children go into hospital, so they can see where they will be and what will happen.

* Many also have printed material (such as pictures of children in hospital to colour in) or information on the Internet to go through with children.

* Find out what will happen yourself and play some hospital games with your child.

* Read or tell your child stories about a child who goes to hospital, gets better and comes home. Check your local library or the school library. Teachers may talk about hospitals with the whole class.

* Be honest with your child about what is going to happen, so she does not lose her trust in you. She needs to be able to trust you. Note: for toddlers and young children it is important not to tell them too far in advance because they don't need too long to worry about something they don't understand - a few days is usually long enough.

Children in Hospital
Children in hospital need the support of a parent or a very close family member. The younger the child is, the more important it is for you to stay with her if you can. This can sometimes be difficult if there are other young children at home.

If it is possible, arrange for someone else to care for the other children. But make sure your other children understand what is happening, and that they see you or at least talk to you on the phone as often as possible.

About two generations ago little was done to support children or parents when children were in hospital, and much harm was done to children. Visiting was sometimes only for an hour twice a week ('justified' by a child becoming very upset after a parent visited), and for parents only (no brothers or sisters, no friends, no 'germs').

Now hospitals and hospital staff have much greater awareness of the needs of children and their parents and mostly have very different policies.

Admission
Most hospitals have 'day' wards so that few children have to stay overnight or more than one day. For some illnesses and injuries children still have to stay for more than one day, but many more children stay only for a short time compared even to 10 years ago.

Parents
Mothers or fathers should be able to be admitted with children, especially if the child is under five, and should be near the child at night. Research shows that this helps children to get better more quickly.

Hospitals should make provisions so that parents can stay (such as comfortable chairs, and somewhere to get meals), and encourage them to stay.

Parents should be able to help as much as they are able with the care of the child. (However they need to be supported and not left to provide all the care).

Visitors
If children are to be in hospital for more than a couple of days, they will usually want to have visitors unless they are very unwell.

Being visited by other family members will be important to them, especially brothers and sisters.

But the rights of other children and their families have to be considered; they may need quiet time.

Children who are unwell should not come into the hospital. If a visitor has a cold or gastro this can be spread to the other children in the ward.

While friends and others may visit, you and the staff need to limit the time and number of visitors so that your child is not overwhelmed.

Activities
Many hospitals expect children to be out of bed and playing much of the time unless the child 'has' to stay in bed. Having a 'drip' in does not mean a child has to stay in bed. (Take some normal clothes, not just pyjamas.)

Play coordinators work in many children's wards, and they can play with little children, and with children who do have to stay in bed, as well as children who can be out of bed.

Having play coordinators seems to help children get better more quickly, and they seem to need less pain relief.

School aged children who are in hospital for a length of time are usually expected to have to do school work. The child's usual teacher may set some work or a few children may have contact with a teacher based in the hospital.

Operations
If a child is going to have an operation, parents are usually expected to go with their child to the anaesthetic room, and often to stay until the child is asleep. Some parents find this scary; maybe a nurse who the child has gotten to know might go instead.

Usually parents will not be allowed into the 'recovery' room, which is the place where children are taken immediately after the operation until they start to wake up.

The child will still be drowsy when taken back to the ward and will be unaware that you were not there in recovery. The child will become alert in the ward and parents will usually be able to be with their child when he fully wakes up.

This article is courtey of Children, Youth and Women's Health Service, for more information - Click Here