Parenting: How to Ease the Anxiety of Your Child in Venipuncture Procedures

Most adults who are scheduled for venipuncture (collection of blood through the veins) are usually anxious of the procedure. This is because they are unaware of the rudiments and the facts about it. If adults are anxious of it, how much more for a child? A child would be terrified just knowing that he would be punctured by a needle. This anxiety however, could be considerably lessened if parents are oriented on how to ease the fears of their child. These are methods that you could adapt.

For children below 2 years old:

1. Since the child could not really understand explanations, what is needed from you is your moral support. The health care workers would be responsible in restraining him.

2. Be visible and stay some place where he can see you. If he sees you, he will be reassured that he is not alone.

3. If you're allowed to stay inside the room, you can coax and talk to him in a comforting tone, telling him that everything would be well. You can hold his free hand and squeeze it gently for reassurance.

4. Let him have his favorite toy with him. The feel and sight of something familiar would lessen his fear.

For Children 3- 12 years old:

1. Explain why the procedure has to be performed. i.e. "They have to extract blood because we want to know why your head won't stop aching. You want this ache to go away, don't you?" Everyone has a fear of the unknown, so let him know anything about the procedure he wants to know of.

2. Tell him that the procedure would hurt a bit, but it can be tolerated. "...just like a bite of a big ant." Don't say, "It's not painful," because that's not true. If the venipuncture proves to be painful, then your child would have a problem trusting you again. Explain how the procedure is done. Discuss the health benefits he would get from it.

3. Let him take active part in the procedure. You could ask his preference as to when the procedure could be done; or if that's not possible then, during the procedure itself, you could instruct him to hold his arm steady, etc. This would give him more control. When he feels he has some sort of control over it, he would not be as scared as much. Being helpless would evoke a feeling of anxiety.

4. You could reward him with his favorite movie afterwards, or a treat to his favorite diner, etc. You would know how best to reward for your child. Don't let him get the idea however, that everything he does would be rewarded.

For children 13 and above:

1. Discussing the health benefits of the procedure usually works with children in this age bracket. Explain with supporting facts. If you don't have time to research, then let the doctor do the explaining. This would make him understand the importance of the procedure. Don't command him to do it. Discuss the benefits of the procedure and let him decide whether to undergo it or not.

2. Let him have some sort of control over the procedure; i.e. pumping the bulb in his hand (not needed in most cases), feeling out the requisition slip, etc.

Don't fail to let your child know that you would not have him undergo a procedure unless you are certain that this would be vital to his health and well being. Do this with love and you would always win the trust and love of your child. This would make him less nervous of anything that would be endorsed by you.