J Korean Acad Child Health Nurs.  2006 Oct;12(4):486-494.

Play Activity in Hospitalized Children

• Oh K
• Kim HS
• Won DY
• Kim TI
• Cheon H
• Lee H
• Son S
• Shin H

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was done to analyze children's play during hospitalization. METHOD: Data were collected from 36 play situations of hospitalized children, ages 2 to 6, hospitalized at 4 general hospitals, one in each city, Seoul, Suwon, Daejeon and Daegu. All observations were made in pediatric units during free-play periods. Each child was observed for 5 minutes at each observation and observed three times at each play session. RESULTS: Of the children, 83.3% played on the bed. Play partners were mainly mothers. While 75.0% of children actively took part in play activity and 70.0% played with joy, 63.9% of play partners were more passive in the play. The most frequent play material was a small toy. The level of play was early stage of social and cognitive play, and dramatic play was observed in a few children over the age of 3 years. The play activities were conversional play, reflections of therapeutic procedures, imagination, and exploratory play. In the conversional play, children converted hospital equipments into play materials.
CONCLUSION
It is recommended that health care team members should pay attention and actively participate in play of hospitalized children in order to help them have some control over the stress of the situation.

Keyword

Play; Hospitalized child; Observation

MeSH Terms

Child
Child, Hospitalized*
Daegu
Gyeonggi-do
Hospitalization
Hospitals, General
Humans
Imagination
Mothers
Patient Care Team
Play and Playthings
Seoul
Child Health