Survey of pediatric hospitals' preparation programs: evidence of the impact of health psychology research.

A survey of all 123 nonchronic-care pediatric hospitals in the United States revealed that 75% of hospitals responding had greatly increased the use of effective medical procedure preparation technologies, such as filmed modeling and coping skills instruction, in comparison to the last survey. Respondent characteristics such as position (e.g., nurse, child life worker, physician), degree (e.g., RN, MA, PhD), and length of time in the position failed to predict the type of techniques selected, but higher respondent knowledge and more psychological sources of preparation information did predict the use of preparation techniques used for drawing blood that experts rated as more effective. Challenges for more effective dissemination of research in the future are considered, as is the need for increased study of research-implementation links.