Effect of Animated Stories on Pain Intensity and Physiological Parameters among Post-Operative Children

Background: Children who are undergoing surgical procedures experience pain. Animated stories are a non-invasive, inexpensive, and non-pharmacological nursing intervention that has no side effects and can be effective when provided alongside routine care and on physiological parameters in the surgical ward among post-operative children. This study aimed to investigate the effect of animated stories on pain intensity and physiological parameters among post-operative children. Design: Quasi-experimental research design was utilized in the current study. Subjects: The study included a purposive sample of 100 children from 5- 10 years who were equally divided into two groups, the first was the control group and the second was the experimental group. Setting: This study was carried out in Surgical Pediatric Ward at Sohag University Hospital. Tools: (I) An Interview Structured Questionnaire was developed by the researchers, (II) Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale, and (III) physiological parameters assessment tool was utilized for collecting the data. Results: There was a highly statistically significant difference detected between the total mean score of the postoperative intensity of pain among post-operative children on WBFS between the experimental and the control groups (P=0.001). There was a marked reduction in the mean score of pain and diastolic blood pressure (SBP & DBP), heart rate, and respiratory rate in the experimental group as compared to the control group. There was a significant difference between the mean score of pain, SBP, DBP, heart rate, and respiratory rate in both groups after the experiment. Conclusion: Animated stories were found to be more effective in reducing pain, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate among post-operative children in the experimental group than those in the control group who received only routine hospital care. Recommendations: Thus, it is essential to include animated stories as a tool in postoperative care as non-pharmacological management for pain relief.