Study of the Impact of a Pediatric Nurse's Consultation on Parental Anxiety During a Febrile Convulsion in Children

Overview

Febrile seizures are considered a very common syndrome presented in the pediatric emergency room. Witnessing these seizures may can cause anxiety in parents and generate them psychological sequelae such as major depressive disorder in the short term, or sleep disorders in the long term. An appropriate care for parents must be put in place in the emergency department, with the objective of improving their knowledge of this pathology and its care, and thus to reduce their anxiety and prevent potential inappropriate or even deleterious behavior and maneuvers towards the child.

Febrile seizures occupy a large place in pediatric practice in the emergency room, their prevalence varies between 3 and 8% in children under 7 years old, hence the notion of a very common syndrome. When parents witness this event, they can experience it as terrifying, and which can alone cause anxiety and generate psychological sequelae. In the literature, it is described that a third of the parents present a major depressive disorder after the event and a third of the parents still describe sleep disorders after one year. After the arrival at the pediatric emergency room following the febrile seizure, the priority is given to the care of the child and parents are given succinct medical information. Due to parental anxiety, which may still be significant at this time, this information may not be understood. All of this can make the parent's level of knowledge about this pathology and its management low, potentially leading to future behaviors and maneuvers (such as shaking) that are inappropriate or even harmful to the child. A different course with appropriate care for parents must be put in place in the emergency department, with the objective of improving their knowledge of this pathology, its care and to reduce parent's anxiety. This is why the CONSULFE childcare consultation is proposed in this research.