Nurses' views regarding the need for play specialists on local paediatric wards

Abstract

From the literature it is evident that children suffer a great deal of stress and anxiety during their hospital stay. It is also acknowledged that through organized and directed play, this anxiety can be reduced. A Play Specialist is a professional who leads playful activities and uses play as a therapeutic tool in hospital. On the local paediatric wards, play facilities are available but play activities lack appropriate organization. This study which adopted a descriptive non-experimental qualitative research design was undertaken to assess nurses' views regarding the need for Play Specialists on local paediatric wards. The target population consisted of nurses working on the three paediatric wards at St Luke's Hospital out of whom 15 nurses including 3 Nursing/Deputy Officers participated in the study. A structured interview schedule was used as a tool. The overall findings revealed that nurses value the importance of play in hospital and recognized its main benefits with hospitalized children. The play service presently available on the local wards appears to mainly provide for diversionary play which may fail to adequately meet the child's specific psychosocial needs. Moreover findings showed that nurses' time for play is restricted whilst play teachers have limited working hours and are not integrated within the multi-disciplinary team. Participants identified play professionals as the appropriate play service managers. Factors which could influence the integration of these play professionals were also identified. The main facilitating factors being: special training, funding, play facilities, an appropriate time schedule and collaboration from other professions. The implications and recommendations of the study were discussed and presented.