While Being Comforted in the Emergency Department, a Young School-Age

Multiple Choice

While being comforted in the emergency department, a young school-age sibling of a pediatric trauma victim blurts out to the nurse, "It's my fault! When we were fighting yesterday, I told him I wished he was dead!" Which response is most appropriate by the nurse?

A) Asking the child if she would like to sit down and drink some water
B) Sitting the child down in an empty room with markers and paper so that she can draw a picture
C) Calmly discussing the catheters, tubes, and equipment that the patient requires and explaining to the sibling why the patient needs them
D) Reassuring the child that it is normal to get angry and say things that we do not mean but that we have no control over whether or not an accident happens