Making the bed, keeping the room tidy, changing dressings, and giving backrubs help your child feel more comfortable and lighten the burden of the overworked nurses. However, some children may do better with the nurses. Parents should allow the child to express his needs, even if it feels like rejection. Parents can help their child regain some control by encouraging choices whenever possible. Older children should be actively involved in discussions about their treatment, while younger children can decide when to take a bath, which arm to use for an IV, what to order for meals, what position for procedures, what clothes to wear, and how to decorate the room.
Some children request a hug or a handshake after all treatments or procedures.
Children need to play and teens need to socialize, especially when hospitalized. Ask whether the hospital has a recreation therapy department. Often, a large room is devoted to toys, books, dolls, and crafts, and is staffed by specialists who really know how to play with children. These rooms provide many therapeutic activities such as medical play with dolls, which help children to express fears or concerns about what is happening to them. By encouraging contact with other children in similar circumstances, recreation therapy helps children feel less alone, less different from other children.