Treatment and management of seven children with fractured femurs experiencing night terrors in hospital: a case study
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Treatment and management of seven children with fractured femurs experiencing night terrors in hospital: a case study

Andrew Gardner Lecturer, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia

This article reports on seven cases of night terror disorder in children with no previous history of parasomnias, or night time disturbance. All children were admitted to a metropolitan children’s hospital with a traumatic fracture of the femur and treated with Thomas’ traction splint, a phenomenon not previously reported in the literature. The characteristic presentation of a night terror is described and a strategy for immediate nursing management of a night terror is suggested. Various forms of projective play therapy as a safe short-term treatment are described to assist children with night terror disorder.

Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2019.e1147

Peer review

This article has been subject to open peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

andrew.gardner@unisa.edu.au

Conflict of interest

None declared

Gardner A (2019) Treatment and management of seven children with fractured femurs experiencing night terrors in hospital: a case study. Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2019.e1147

Published online: 25 February 2019

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