ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. General Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency Care
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1543138
Invasive Procedures and Atraumatic Care in Pediatric Nursing Practice: nurses' perceptions
Provisionally accepted- 1Escola Superior de Enfermagem do Porto, Porto, Porto, Portugal
- 2CINTESIS@RISE, Porto, Portugal
- 3University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Invasive procedures in pediatric nursing practice require a child-centered approach to minimize pain levels associated with manifestations of stress, anxiety, and long-term traumatic reactions. Method: This cross-sectional study aimed at identifying nurses' perception of stress, anxiety, and pain levels in children and adolescents (0 to 18 years) undergoing invasive procedures, and strategies used to minimize the associated distress. Based on a literature review, an online questionnaire was developed that evaluates the distress associated with frequent invasive procedures and strategies used to reduce discomfort. Results: Participants were 157 nurses who provided nursing care to children in all types of healthcare settings, such as hospitals and community health centers. Nurses evaluated lumbar puncture and catheter insertion as the procedures that caused more stress, anxiety, and pain in all age groups. ANOVA and post-hoc analyses indicate that nurses perceived adolescents as experiencing less stress than children in all the invasive procedures. Pediatric specialist nurses perceived a significantly higher total level of distress (an index that indicates stress, anxiety or pain in the whole group of procedures) compared to nurses with other specialties or generalist nurses , in all age groups. Non-pharmacological strategies were the most frequently used strategies used by nurses for minimizing distress in children, including distraction (51.2%), preparation (30.7%), and sensory techniques (14.6%). Pharmacological strategies, such as topical anesthetics and light sedation, were less frequently used. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of specialized training and knowledge concerning strategies to reduce distress in pediatric invasive procedures, suggesting the need for more significant investment in education and support for nursing professionals to improve patient experience.
Keywords: Invasive procedures, stress, Pain, Anxiety, Child, Nursing, Non-pharmacological strategies
Received: 16 Jan 2025; Accepted: 29 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Neto, Fernandes, Andrade, Fernandes, Martins, Barbieri-Figueiredo, Carvalho and Lima. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ligia Lima, Escola Superior de Enfermagem do Porto, Porto, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.