 |
Preparing Children for Medical Care & their Physical Exam |
|
|
|
Going to the doctor or family dentist can be a scary experience for children. My little girls are sometimes excited about going to their favorite pediatrician for a check up, but even they get nervous when we get there. The sights and sounds, along with the fear of the unknown, make it a frightening environment for little ones who aren’t sure of what is going to happen to them today. So lets talk about preparing children for medical care. One of the best things parents can do to ease children into a medical experience is to prep them in advance. Please do not tell your child, “Now don’t be scared,” or, “There’s nothing to be nervous about.” Comments like these only plant seeds of concern in their heads and make their “nervous” and “scared” alarms go off in their brains. Trust me—those two words are the only things that are going to register to the child from those sentences. The best way to prep the child is to role play the experience. Very young children love to role play and pretend they are the family doctor, dentist, nurse, and patient. If the child is going in for a routine well child physical exam, go through the entire scenario from calling the child out of the waiting room, weighing and measuring, examining the mouth and ears, listening to the heart…you get the idea. My oldest daughter was really scared of the first stethoscope that she encountered. Adults know that listening to the heart and lungs is one of the most comfortable and least invasive parts of a medical exam, but a child has no idea what to expect from that scary looking “thing.” It is important to pinpoint specific concerns or fears the child may be dealing with. A great tool is to have the child pretend to be the parent bringing their baby doll or teddy bear to the doctor for a checkup. Ask the pretend parent, “Is your baby nervous?” If the child says yes, look the child in the eyes and tell him or her that there is nothing to be scared about at the doctor’s office, then ask, “What can we do to make the baby understand that it is okay and nothing is going to hurt her?” Preparing an older child for a new medical experience probably won’t involve the games that we play with young children, unless you can get them to join in with younger siblings. With older children, it is still important to talk out all aspects of the experience so that they feel prepared and involved in what is happening to them. Physical ExamsIf you’re not sure what a medical visit may entail, call ahead to find out. My friend and her son were both traumatized after a recent physical exam required for him to play junior high football. Neither of them knew that the doctor would have to manipulate his private parts to check for hernias, and the doctor probably assumed they knew this is a routine part of this exam. Her son has even declared, “I’m never going to a doctor again!” This scenario, and his perception of medical experiences in general, would be quite different if they had prepared themselves in advance. It’s not the exam that was traumatizing, but rather being blind-sided by an experience he wasn’t prepared for. My annual well woman exam is much more invasive than that, but I know what is going to happen and can take it in stride as much as possible. When preparing a child for a dental exam, talk about the noises they are going to hear in the office. Those grinding sounds can unnerve even the most experienced dental patient. Some children may do better at a pediatric dental practice that is designed and trained to cater to youngsters. Other children may be more comfortable going to the same dentist you do and taking turns in the exam chair. Only you know what is best for that individual child—and you may have to find out by trial and error. Just make sure that the dentist has a good rapport with children and an exceptional bedside manner. Child hospital visits are experiences that most of us just hope never happen to our children, so we usually don’t prepare ahead of time for them. In these instances, you will probably have to do a lot of preparation on the fly. If you are in the emergency room with a child requiring sutures, explain what is going to happen as best as you can. Injections for anesthesia are probably going to be required, and they are going to hurt. That information alone will unnerve even the bravest child. Don’t lie to the child like my doctor did and say, “It’s only going to feel like a mosquito bite.” That was NO misquito bite, and then I didn’t trust anything else they told me. A much better approach is to set parameters that the child can understand, and help the child “compartmentalize” the procedures they are going to experience. Tell the child that the shots are going to hurt this long, then squeeze their hand and count slowly to three. (Make sure to count during the actual injections as well so that the child knows it is almost over.) Explain how important it is that the child stay still and quiet. Then tell the child that they will feel tugging sensations but no pain during the suturing. You can pull on their shirt to demonstrate what this may feel like. Remember that children returning to a medical practice for a follow-up appointment may expect the same thing to happen to them again. They may be concerned that taking out sutures is just as painful as putting them in. Make sure to always prepare a child with advance information even for these quick look-n-see appointments, because the child may not realize it is just an exam. Parenting is certainly a challenge—with new experiences for both the parent and child every minute. One of the best gifts we can give our children is information. Make sure you prepare your children for medical experiences by using positive words and actions, making sure your body language and tone of voice are pleasant and unafraid (both in advance and during medical visits), and giving the child the opportunity to talk out fears and concerns. Now the only thing you have to fear is the bill. Shannon Davis is a freelance writer for the health care and long term care sectors. *Note: M-Zan Solutions and Super Science Fair Projects are not affiliated with the authors of this article or responsible for its content.
|
