Effects of Preparing Parents To Participate In Their Child's Care In The Recovery Room

Video recordings were taken of parents and children during the child's stay in the recovery room, every 3 minutes for 15 seconds at a time. A maximum of six segments were randomly selected to capture a range of parental participation behaviors throughout their stay in the RR. Thus, the maximum duration of the recordings was 1 ½ minutes per parent (six observation periods x 15 seconds). Parents' participation behaviors were measured using an observational checklist, the Inventaire des conduites parentales (ICP) (Parental Behaviours Inventory), which includes different behaviors parents may have during a child's same-day surgery (Tourigny et al., 2005). The ICP is composed of 13 indicators divided into three categories; verbal information (i.e. providing information to child and answering child's questions), cognitive strategies (i.e. applying positive reinforcement and implementing coping strategies) and attitudes (i.e. showing the child affection and being close to the child).

A multiple choice questionnaire was designed and validated for this study, then used to measure parents' knowledge. Parents' answers were tabulated to get a total score for each parent and for each test (test 1: Pre-intervention and test 2: Post-intervention). The maximum score for each test was 10. Parents' knowledge acquisition was measured by calculating the difference between parents' scores on test 1 and test 2.

Defined by parents' self-reporting of their anxiety at three time points: 1) immediately before entering the RR; 2) 5 minutes after entering the RR; and 3) 5 minutes after leaving the RR with their child. Parents' anxiety was measured using the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A) (Vogelsang 1988)

Defined as facial, verbal, and affective manifestations, and motor indicators of emotional distress related to anxiety, anger, fear and pain. Parent-child dyads were digitally video-recorded in the RR. The video segments randomly selected to measure parents' participation behaviours in the RR were also used to measure children's distress behaviours. Children's distress behaviours were measured with the Échelle descriptive du comportement de l'enfant opéré (EDCEO) (Observation scale to assess the behaviour of children undergoing surgery) (Tourigny 2000)

Post-operative pain was assessed in the RR and the daycare surgery (DCS) unit and documented by nurses using the Modified Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Score (mCHEOPS) (Splinter et al. 1994)

Post-operative analgesics required by children in the RR and in the DCS unit included opioid analgesics (e.g. Fentanyl and Morphine) and non-opioids (e.g.

Acetaminophen)

Time (in minutes) elapsed between the arrival of the children in the RR and their departure from the DCS unit. The time at which children were discharged from the DCS unit was determined based on the achievement of specific criteria regarding level of activity and consciousness, vital signs, blood perfusion, pain and wound assessment and feeding.