A school bus carrying children in grades K–12 crashed into a ravine. The critically injured children were transported by ambulance and admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)

Question

The nurse is concerned about calming the frightened children. The most effective nursing intervention to achieve this goal is which of the following? 1. Tell the children that the physicians are competent.
2. Assure the children that the nurses are caring.
3. Explain that the PICU equipment is state-of-the-art.
4. Call the children's parents to come into the PICU.

Answer 1

4
Rationale:
1. Health care providers, no matter how competent or caring, cannot substitute for parents.
2. Children at all developmental levels look first to their parents or whoever acts as their guardians for safety and security.
3. Children often cannot recognize and do not care about state-of-the-art equipment.
4. A sense of physical and psychological security is best achieved by the presence of parents.