Good post RangerSteve! Encouraging kids to be afraid of nurses, doctors, etc. is a terrible idea. Not only does it mean that medical care is more emotionally traumatic for the kids, but the fearfulness itself makes the care more difficult. Vital signs are harder to interpret properly; it's harder or impossible to do parts of the physical exam; or a children may need sedation or restraint for a procedure that they could have handled if they weren't scared.

Pediatric hospital wards often designate one nurse to do all the needles/IVs so the nurse doing most of the patient's care won't be seen as the bad guy. Or, they take patients to a separate room to do any kind of treatment so that kids won't be afraid of their hospital beds.

Marion (five months away from being an RN)