Reducing Anxiety in Children Undergoing Day Surgery

Aim: This study was conducted to determine the efficacy of finger puppets, distraction cards and kaleidoscope for reducing anxiety in children undergoing day surgery. Methods: The study was conducted using the "pre-post test unmatched group model", one of the quasi-experimental methods. The study was conducted between April 2023 and January 2024 with children aged 6-12 years who were admitted to the pediatric clinic of a hospital for day surgery. A total of 85 children (including 20 children in the control group, 22 children in the finger puppet intervention group, 21 children in the distraction cards intervention group, and 22 children in the kaleidoscope intervention group) who were hospitalized in the pediatric clinic between April 2023 and January 2024 and who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis and regression analysis were used in the evaluation of the data.