Christopher Hands and colleagues investigated the level of distress for children undergoing venepucture in hospital, and assessed whether there is scope to improve staff training and other aspects of managing the procedure

Aim To assess the training for, practice of, and effects of venepuncture in children on a general children’s ward. To identify approaches that might reduce the adverse physical and psychological effects related to venepuncture.

Methods Questionnaire survey of 51 parents, 39 children and 72 junior doctors following venepuncture in the children. Telephone survey of 25 paediatric senior house officers on venous access training.

Results Parents and children assessed venepuncture as extremely distressing. Parents’ assessments of the mean number of venepuncture attempts were markedly higher than those of the doctors surveyed. When carrying out venepuncture, doctors used therapeutic measures much less frequently than expected. Only seven of the 25 departments surveyed offered any training in venepuncture.

Conclusion Venepuncture is consistently one of the most distressing aspects of a hospital admission for children. Much could be done to alleviate this, but training is patchy and interventions shown to reduce distress are not uniformly used.