Admittance to a hospital as a patient.

Whether planned or on an emergency basis, hospitalization causes disruption in the life of any child. However, with the special accommodations that modern hospitals usually make for both children and their parents, a stay in the hospital need not be a traumatic event. If children receive proper support from the hospital and their families, hospitalization can even make them feel good about themselves for having successfully negotiated a challenge to their maturity, self-discipline, and courage. Because no one can predict when a child may face an emergency hospital stay, it is a good idea for all parents to spend some time talking to their children about hospitals.

Children should be carefully prepared for prearranged hospitalizations. Before they can reassure their children, parents need to deal with their own fears about the impending experience, which can be easily communicated to a child...