Children's and adolescents' experiences while undergoing cardiac catheterization.

Problem: To explore the experiences of children and adolescents undergoing a cardiac catheterization.

Subjects: Caucasian children and adolescents (N = 24), 9-17 years, male and female, undergoing cardiac catheterization.

Method: Exploratory design utilizing content analysis. The authors used an interview guide with 4 subsections to elicit self-reports of knowledge, perceptions, emotions, and evaluations.

Findings: Major themes were anticipatory anxiety, pain, invasion of privacy, and being comforted. Many children had misconceptions or lack of knowledge of the procedure.

Conclusions & implications for nursing: Nurses' knowledge of the impact on children and adolescents of a cardiac catheterization room, high-technology equipment, and invasive procedures may increase their sensitivity to children's and adolescents' perceptions of the experiences and promote individualized nursing care.