Practical communication guide for paediatric procedures

Children undergo many diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in the ED. Although emergency staff can often intervene to reduce physical pain through topical anaesthesia, analgesia and sedation, much procedural distress can be addressed by better preparing patients and families for the procedures. A key to guiding children through procedures is the use of age-appropriate and non-threatening language by all clinicians involved. We present a practical language guide for procedures and equipment for use by clinicians in the ED before, during and after procedures. The language tables might be most usefully placed in the procedure rooms for easy reference or incorporated into clinical practice guidelines.