Professional Training Boosts Pediatric Nurses' Clown Therapy Perceptions.

Training for Enhancing Pediatric Outpatient Nurses' Cognition of Clown Therapy

  • Jun Wu Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
  • Jiawen Fan Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
  • Suyi Xu Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
  • Qinyue Lan Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
  • Xin Wang Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
  • Shuangyang Feng Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
  • Qianqian Shen Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
  • Huafen Wang Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
Keywords: Medical clown, Pediatric outpatient department, Nursing staff, Cognition, Training, Investigation

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the impact of professional training on pediatric outpatient nurses’ cognition and attitudes towards the use of clown therapy, and to assess its clinical applicability. Design: A pre- and post-training evaluation study. Methods: A total of 31 pediatric outpatient nurses participated in the study, completing a self-designed 15-item questionnaire focused on clown therapy. The questionnaires were administered both before and after a structured training program. The assessment aimed to measure changes in nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward clown therapy. Results: The results indicated a statistically significant improvement in the nurses’ cognition following the training (mean score post-training: 8.55 vs pre-training: 7.71, p = 0.003). Conclusion: Notably, the training also eliminated the age-related differences in cognition observed prior to the intervention. Furthermore, nurses expressed more positive attitudes toward the clinical implementation of clown therapy post-training.

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Published
2025-10-23