Therapeutic toy in the nurse’s performance in pediatric emergency units: integrative review

The process of child hospitalization is projected as one of the first traumas experienced by the child. Staying in an emergency room can be a stressful experience. The act of playing can contribute positively by providing joy to children and adolescents. The objective of this study was to search the literature for the use of therapeutic toys in nurses' work in Pediatric Emergency Units. This is an integrative literature review. The databases chosen for the search were: Google academic, Lilacs and Scielo. The articles published in Portuguese and English, published in the last 10 years, were included in the study, considering that it was from this point on that the issue began to be more discussed in the context of child hospitalization, the articles available in full for the reading and presenting information on the use of therapeutic toys in the nurses' work in Pediatric Emergency Units. The non-inclusion criteria included review articles, duplicates and research conducted with other professional categories. We found 109 studies and selected 39 after reading titles and abstracts. After reading in full the selected articles, we used in the sample of this review 08 articles. From the analysis emerged 03 thematic axes: Strengthening of links; Reduction of anxiety; and Acceptance and knowledge. The results of this review offer contributions in order to understand the benefits of using therapeutic toy, as well as the difficulties nurses face in their use.