Psychosocial Effects of Hospitalisation to:

Adolescent
-anxiety, powerlessness, overdependence, helplessness and loss of
independence
-may lose the ability to decide even the most basic aspects of their day when
they eat, sleep or use the bathroom.
-they lose control over their privacy at the time in their lives when selfconsciousness is peaking
-regressing to the more dependent state of a younger child
-more concerned with potential impacts on body image, physical appearance,
and deformity
-often feel loss of freedom, perceived or actual, which increases need for
emotional containment and processing
-increases potential for unresolved anxiety, which produces long-term trauma
-trauma can present behaviourally, emotionally and physiologically (nervousness,
aggression, anger, fear of mutilation, guilt, pain, rage)

Family
-often perceive their own anxiety as greater than that experienced by their child
-experience a unique set of stressors including uncertainty of recovery
postoperatively, possibility of poor surgical outcome, lack of information
concerning the surgery and perioperative period, disruption of the parental role
while in the hospital, and concerns about their child's pain
-disruption of parental role while in the hospital has been reported to be a
significant source of anxiety for many parents
-often feel anxiety and confusion regarding the parenting of a hospitalised child
as parental roles in the hospital must be negotiated with hospital staf
-may feel that they do not possess the adequate information to be of concrete
help to their child

Lerwick, J. (2013). Psychosocial implications of pediatric surgical

hospitalization. Seminars In Pediatric Surgery, 22(3), 129-133.
doi:10.1053/j.sempedsurg.2013.04.003

Harris, T., Sibley, A., Rodriguez, C., & Brandt, M. (2013). Teaching the
psychosocial aspects of pediatric surgery. Seminars In Pediatric Surgery, 22(3),
161-166. doi:10.1053/j.sempedsurg.2013.05.005