[The stimulating environment for the development of hospitalized children].

This study presents a qualitative approach, and used the method of Simple Observation. It was carried out with eight children who were hospitalized in two pediatric units of a school hospital in São Paulo. Its purpose was to learn the stimulating elements for the development of a child in a hospital environment. Besides, it aimed at motivating nursing professionals to adapt the hospital environment to the child. After the analysis of the collected data, categories were organized as: stimulating objects and situations, procedures and inter-relationships. The conclusion is that the nursing team performs an important role as one of the stimulating elements in the hospitalized child care, since they are aware of this role.