Communication

The clinician initiates communication with the patient by speaking in a reassuring manner during anesthesia administration. The subject matter can range from describing the process in child friendly terminology, to praise, to storytelling, to singing, or, if the clinician is totally unimaginative, counting. Avoid words like shot, pain, hurt and injection and substitute words like cold, warm, weird, fat and funny.

“Is that jelly beginning to feel warm and weird? If it is, then I have to wash it away with my fat and funny water. When I spray the water next to your tooth it may feel real cold. So, what I’ll do is count and by the time I reach five the water will warm up.”