Effectiveness of Standardized Educational Resources for Parents Managing Fevers

When a child presents with a fever, parents can be overcome with anxiety and lack confidence in managing their child's illness at home. This can lead to the development of 'fever phobia,' which creates anxiety and health care-seeking behavior that often results in an unnecessary trip to the emergency department (Peetoom et al., 2016). Of approximately 30 million hospital visits of children due to fever, nausea, and cough, over 96% were treated and released (McDermott et al., 2018). In this study, an informational pamphlet was created for parents on when to seek medical attention for a fever. A five-question survey was distributed to 31 parent participants in person or through social media to gather their baseline understanding of fevers and treatment. The pamphlet was then distributed to each parent along with an accurate acetaminophen dosing guide. A post-survey was distributed to measure the increase in knowledge. Around 68% of parents felt comfortable handling their children's fever at home after receiving the education, and 93.5% of parents felt moderately to very effective in properly dosing acetaminophen (Tylenol[R]) for their children's fever after the educational. Over 97% of parents found this educational pamphlet helpful.Most parents felt this education would be most beneficial if it were given to them when going home with their first child. These results illustrate the problem of parents' discomfort and anxiety in managing their child's fever at home. A standardized educational pamphlet on fevers and a medication dosing tool may help ease parental anxiety and decrease unnecessary health care visits.