Introduction: Hospital admission is a stressful experience for children because it interrupts their daily routines. Hospitalization brings about unknown circumstances in which children are subject to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that may induce physical and mental malaise. Hospitalizations are known to trigger anxiety, which manifests itself in children's unwillingness to cooperate, forcing healthcare professionals to be resourceful in promoting children’s interest in cooperation. One of the methods involves the use of puppets, which help children overcome negative emotions experienced during hospitalization, while at the same time allowing healthcare professionals to improve their communication and form close relationships with the children. Purpose: We wanted to study the use of puppets and puppet-related activities, such as puppet play in pediatric healthcare and the role of nurses in this activity. Methods: We used a descriptive method by conducting a review of professional and scientific literature on using puppets in pediatric healthcare. Included in the review were articles published between 2010 and 2020. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the final analysis comprised a total of 25 literature units. Results: The authors have identified positive effects of using puppets in puppet plays while treating children, since children were less anxious and afraid before, during and after diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Puppets made them feel safe and facilitated their expression of emotions – children did not have to maintain a direct eye contact with another person; instead, they communicated with puppets. This makes puppets an excellent tool for establishing great trust and providing a more efficient communication between hospitalized children and nurses. Puppet play is thus a valuable tool for presenting diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, providing children with the opportunity to carry out a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure themselves and experience it from a different perspective. What is more, puppets are also a valuable tool for distracting children during unpleasant diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Discussion and conclusion: Using puppets as part of the communication strategy helps children better understand their health condition, while at the same time providing healthcare professionals with an opportunity to better understand children's emotions and, consequently, establish closer relationships with them. In our literature review, we have found that in pediatric healthcare, puppet play is most frequently used in combination with therapeutic play and dramatherapy. We have identified a lack of research on the subject. We believe that further research might provide answers to the question of how different puppet play interventions can be implemented in the work environment by involving nurses to the greatest extent possible.
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