Mrs Kristen Storey1, Ms Tanesha Dimanopoulos2, Dr Karin Plummer1,2, Dr Bronwyn Griffin2
1Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia, 2Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
Abstract:
Intro
Virtual reality and distraction therapy are utilised in burn care globally. The Smileyscope Virtual Reality (VR) technology is a lightweight VR headset that has demonstrated improved distraction and reports less pain in paediatric PIVC insertion (Chan et al., 2019). Smileyscope contains procedural programs along with relaxation and breathing programs that completely immerses the child and has been shown to be effective in children as young as four years of age. This study aims to explore the feasibility and acceptability of the Smileyscope in the paediatric burns setting.
Methods
Clinicians, patients (four years of age or older) and parent/carers are being invited to participate in a questionnaire comprising of visual analogue and Likert scales. Open-ended questions will explore the child’s pain and anxiety surrounding the dressing change and then expand on the feasibility and acceptability of approaches to VR use within the buns setting.
Analysis will include descriptive statistics to define the cohort and thematic analysis to capture emerging categories and themes from the open-ended questions.
Results
Twenty sets of data (child, carer, clinician) have been collected to date. Data from a set of 50 patient experiences will be analysed and presented.
Discussion
This study will inform the developing standards of the use of VR in paediatric burns and generate evidence that may provoke further questions for ongoing clinical improvement.
Reference
Chan, E., Hovenden, M., Ramage, E., Ling, N., Pham, J., Rahim, A., Lam, C., Liu, L., Foster, S., Sambell, R., Jeyachanthiran, K., Crock, C., Stock, A., Hopper, S., Cohen, S., Davidson, A., Plummer, K., Mills, E., Craig, S., Deng, G. and Leong, P., 2019. Virtual Reality for Pediatric Needle Procedural Pain: Two Randomized Clinical Trials. The Journal of Pediatrics, 209, pp.160-167.e4.
Biography:
I am a Nurse Practitioner at the Queensland Children’s Hospital. I have worked in the field of burns for over 14 years.
I am dedicated to providing optimal pain relief for paediatric burn patients that focuses on non-pharmacological techniques and devices.