Effects of therapeutic clowning on pain and anxiety during venous blood sampling in Turkey: Randomised controlled trial.

The use of therapeutic clowns could become the standard of care in blood sampling for children from 7 to 12 years of age in hospitals. Therapeutic clowning, which is an easy-to-use, low-cost and practical method to provide better communication and cooperation with the family and the child, can be used as a complementary therapy in all nursing areas, especially in the field of paediatrics. Nurses could be encouraged to be trained on the use of therapeutic humour based upon a standardised approach and offered guidance on how to apply entertaining methods such as clowns. Therapeutic clowning can be examined in other applications in nursing care in light of these results.