Objectives:
It is important to understand the experiences of procedural anxiety from the perspective of the young person directly. This study aimed to gather the thoughts, experiences and feelings of young people who have experienced procedural anxiety to understand what they found helpful or unhelpful during their treatment.
Design and Methods:
Participants were recruited from a specific children’s hospital. Eight young people took part in semi-structured interviews and data was analysed using thematic analysis.
Results:
Five main themes split into subthemes were found; ‘build up and explosion’, ‘hyperawareness of surroundings’, ‘autonomy, communication and information’, ‘trust vs mistrust’ and ‘ways of coping’.
Conclusions:
Findings highlighted the need for a consistent approach, and an awareness of the different presentations of anxiety to achieve improved experiences for young people. Most participants experienced anticipatory anxiety, which led to stress during the procedure itself. Key findings, limitations and clinical implications are discussed.
Practitioner Points:
• Practitioners to consider the environment and proximity of the procedural equipment to the young person prior to the procedure taking place
• Practitioners should be aware that anxiety can present differently in everyone, training sessions by service psychologists can support with a broader awareness of this.
• For psychologists within services to offer healthcare staff the opportunity to reflect and share experiences through reflective practice groups
