Avoid scaring your child with remarks like: “If you don’t behave, the doctor/nurse is going to give you an injection.” Show your child that doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and all hospital staff are friendly, kind and helpful people. Paediatric nurses who are trained to be pleasant and fun with children can ease a lot of fears in their young charges.

If you are staying in a private hospital, you will have the luxury of dealing with only one attending paediatrician whom you may already be familiar with.

However, if you are staying in a government hospital, especially a teaching hospital, several specialists and doctors will visit and assess your child. To avoid miscommunica-tion or confusion, it is best that you liaise with, and obtain information directly from, the consultant in charge instead of asking as many doctors as possible.

One helpful thing to remember is that all doctors have many patients to attend to. Thus it would be wise to seek a proper appointment through the ward nurse if you have something important to ask. Make a note of the questions you wish to ask your doctor and jot down the answers if possible.

With proper respect, understanding and diplomacy, a patient and doctor can have an amiable, working relationship.

As parents, we should make our child’s hospital stay as pleasant as possible. Your child will feel proud having braved a hospital stay and count that as a life experience.