Objective: To understand, from the family’s perspective, the meaning of admitting the child in the hospital with the use of the instructional therapeutic play. Method: A phenomenological research with 12 families of children aged four to nine years old, recently admitted to a public and teaching hospital, in the inland of the state of São Paulo, from October to December 2016. They participated in an instructional therapeutic play session focusing on the procedures performed at hospital admission: weight, height, and vital sign measurements and test collection. The families, in turn, were invited to participate in a phenomenological interview the day after the session. Results: The instructional therapeutic play collaborated in the therapeutic procedures by understanding and modifying the child’s behavior. Also stressed by the families was the need for the toy to be incorporated as nursing care. Conclusion: Given the benefits to the child, the family believes that this strategy should be performed as a routine nursing care and, therefore, performed systematically during child hospitalization.

The purpose of this study is to learn the meaning of being-a-child with cancer submitted to ambulatory treatment and using the toy library as a possibility to enable their expression about their world. Participants were seven children of ages 3 to 9 years, who had been diagnosed with some kind of childhood cancer. With the objective of learning about the meaning of these experiences to children with cancer, an analysis of these data was performed based on Martin Heidegger's existential phenomenology. The child-with-cancer showed a movement that was permeated sometimes by authenticity, when the child assumed the disease and their being-toward-death and also by the lack of authenticity, when they were influenced by the decadence attitude of their relatives and health team members. Playing provided a rich contact with the existence of these severely ill children.

Objective: To understand the meaning attributed by undergraduate nursing students to the teaching and practice of Therapeutic Play (TP) in the Undergraduate Program in Nursing. Methods: A qualitative research project held using Symbolic Interactionism.Participants were 17 nursing students from a public university. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed by Conventional Qualitative Content Analysis. Results: Our results allowed us to understand the meaning attributed by the nursing student to the teaching of TP on the undergraduate program -it is a necessary and important intervention to promote quality and humane nursing care; therefore, its teaching must be ensured for undergraduate students. Final considerations:We hope that our results will contribute to a reflection on the teaching of TP and that this content may go beyond the boundaries of the classroom and academic practice, promoting students' awareness for its future use in their future careers as nurses.Keywords: Play and playthings; Nursing students; Teaching; Pediatric Nursing. intervenção necessária e importante para promover um cuidado de enfermagem qualificado e humano; em vista disso, seu ensino deve ser garantido aos alunos de graduação. Considerações finais: Espera-se que seus resultados contribuam para uma reflexão sobre o ensino do BT, visando que esse conteúdo ultrapasse as fronteiras da sala de aula e da prática acadêmica, favorecendo a sensibilização do aluno para sua utilização futura, quando enfermeiro. Palavras-chave:Jogos e brinquedos; Estudantes de enfermagem; Ensino; Enfermagem pediátrica. resumenObjetivo: Comprender el significado asignado por el graduando de enfermería en cuanto a la enseñanza y la práctica del Juego Terapéutico (JT) en el Curso de Pregrado en Enfermería. Métodos: Investigación cualitativa desarrollada a la luz del Interaccionismo Simbólico. Se incluyeron 17 estudiantes de enfermería de una universidad pública, y los datos fueron recolectados mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas y analizados por Análisis Cualitativo de Contenido Convencional. Resultados: Fue posible comprender el significado asignado por el graduando de enfermería a la enseñanza del JT en el curso de pregrado como una condición necesaria e importante para promover una atención de enfermería cualificada y humana; así, se debe garantizar a los alumnos de pregrado su enseñanza. Consideraciones finales: Se espera que sus resultados ayuden a reflexionar sobre la enseñanza del JT, con el objetivo de que este contenido rebase las fronteras del aula y de la práctica académica, favoreciendo la sensibilización del alumno para su futura utilización, cuando enfermero.

Objective: To understand the meaning of playing for the hospitalized child under precaution. Method: Qualitative research, where Symbolic Interactionism is the theoretical framework and Qualitative Content Analysis is the methodological one. It was attended by eight children aged between 5 and 10. Data were collected through participant observation of playful activities developed with the child by a nurse-researcher and semi-structured interviews mediated by story-drawing with theme. Results: Data showed the evolution of the interactions among toy, researcher and child; their rapid acceptance to get involved in playing; the way they explore the toys; the desire to free themselves from confinement; the relief of stress, the mastery of the situation and the protagonism enabled by the playing; the way they outline the hospital and the importance of having someone to play. Final considerations: Nurses should use creativity, seeking strategies that allow the child to play in this environment full of restrictions.

Do faz de conta à realidade: compreendendo o brincar de crianças institucionalizadas vítimas de violência por meio do brinquedo terapêuticoFrom fantasy to reality: understanding the way of playing of institutionalized children victims of violence through therapeutic play