The hospital environment, which may be unfamiliar to children and in some cases uncomfortable due to previous negative experiences, requires preparatory education. Preparing the child for the hospital process and life is one of the important components of preparation (Şahin, 2020). Both parents and children should be involved in hospital preparatory education. Because it is very important for parents to contribute and play an active role as well as health professionals to prepare and support children for hospital life (Şahin, 2020). Preparing the child for hospital life is partly the responsibility of the parents. The aim of the preparation is to increase the knowledge of the child and the parents, to improve the cooperation between the child and the health personnel and to provide the child with social support. These conditions enable the child and parents to go through the hospital process without fear, anxiety or stress (Chang et al., 2020). However, parents often experience anxiety and stress that they may pass on to the child, which ultimately manifests as fear (Gabriel et al., 2018; Pomicino et al., 2018). This is a natural reaction to a new situation in which parents experience guilt, lack of awareness, separation anxiety and lack of control (Tural Büyük & Bolişik, 2018). A review of the literature found that psychosocial support and coping skills training for families provided by child life specialists, particularly in the United States of America, has a positive impact on hospital life, illness and the treatment process of the child and family (Romito et al., 2021). In addition, Hosny (2023) concluded that the psychoeducation programme for parents of children with epilepsy had statistically significant positive effects on improving parents' knowledge and coping strategies. The results of other studies conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of preoperative surgical preparation interventions in reducing parental anxiety and stress also showed that the training had a positive effect on parental anxiety (Hou et al., 2023; Kerimaa et al., 2023; Luengo et al., 2023).

Basically, hospital preparatory education programmes refer to informing children and their parents about the process they will experience by educating them about issues such as the physical structure of the hospital, hospital staff, the medical procedures performed in the hospital and the equipment used in the hospital (Baykoç, 2008). The content of the information and education programme can vary according to the age and developmental level of the child. Children's books, posters, posters, brochures, slide shows, boards, hospital visits and video broadcasts are among the methods that can be used for this purpose (Baykoç, 2008; McGlashan et al., 2018). In order to prepare children for hospital life, the supportive educational work in the hospital, which can be supported and maintained by their parents in the home environment can help to reduce the anxiety and fear for both children and their parents. At the same time, the parents' anxiety, fear and stress experienced by parents about the process are understood by children and these fears are passed on to children (Lewandowski & Baranoski, 1994). Therefore, education becomes important once again.

The activities to be carried out within the scope of hospital preparatory education can be divided into developmental periods as infancy, preschool, school period and adolescence. Considering the needs of children in all developmental periods, the hospital preparatory education programme should be carried out in cooperation with parents. In each developmental period, parents should be primarily informed about the physical structure of the hospital, hospital staff, medical procedures performed in the hospital, and the tools used in the hospital, which are the basic information in the hospital preparation education programme (Baykoç, 2008; Güney & Sezgin, 2022). Afterwards, it is necessary to provide support to parents about the developmental periods of their children (Baykoç, 2008; Çaylan & Yalçın, 2021; Güney & Sezgin, 2022). If we consider these support activities in the context of developmental periods, in the infant period, it is as important for parents to prepare themselves for the process as it is for their children to prepare themselves. It is important and necessary for babies to be with their mothers while they are in hospital. In some situations, such as when there is a risk of infection, parents and babies can stay together for a limited time. For this reason, parents should be with their babies as much as the baby's health allows, making contact, talking, communicating and interacting, singing, singing lullabies, telling fairy tales, reading books, playing games and supporting the baby with as much physical activity as possible (Çaylan & Yalçın, 2021; Güney & Sezgin, 2022). If the baby's condition does not allow the parents to stay with the baby, it may be recommended to get support from health professionals to make video calls, make audio recordings and have the baby listen to them (Baykoç, 2008; Brockington et al., 2021; Çaylan & Yalçın, 2021; Güney & Sezgin, 2022).

In the pre-school period, the child's pre-hospital information should be given by the parents a few days before the hospital stay. It is important to explain in simple and short words and not to go into too much detail. If the child has questions, they should be answered (Kaş Alay, 2023; Kaş Alay & Kaçan, 2024). Parents can continue to prepare their child for the hospital by using books about the hospital that have been written for this age group. Reading the books and talking about the books can help parents avoid difficulties. The most important thing to remember is that going to hospital and staying there should not be seen as ‘punitive’ for the child. It should be explained to children in simple language that the necessary medical procedures will be carried out to restore their health. Children aged 3–4 years should be informed one or two days before going to hospital and children aged 5–6 years should be informed three or four days before going to hospital (Baykoç, 2008; Emre & Ulutaş, 2022; Güney & Sezgin, 2022).

It should be explained to parents that school-age children have different needs, such as maintaining contact with their peers, continuing their education and, if possible, attending hospital school. As children can now read books themselves, age-appropriate books should be preferred. In addition, their needs such as studying, listening to music, watching films/series, using social media and video chatting with their friends should be met by their parents (Baykoç, 2008; Emre & Ulutaş, 2022). Adolescents should be involved in the process from the very beginning. Adolescents' questions should be answered appropriately and their developmental needs should be met appropriately, as in the school period (Baykoç, 2008; Emre & Ulutaş, 2022).

Children can be negatively affected emotionally, behaviourally and physiologically by medical procedures performed in the hospital. This process can be a source of stress for the children as well as a source of stress for their parents. Parents need to be supported to manage this process, to cope with the stress they experience, to remain psychologically intact and to avoid burnout. This support can be provided in the context of hospital preparatory education. Therefore, our study aims to show the effect of hospital preparatory education on stress, psychological resilience and burnout levels of parents of paediatric patients. Our hypotheses in this study.

H1

Hospital preparatory education will reduce parents' stress levels.

H2

Hospital preparatory education will increase parents' psychological resilience.

H3

Hospital preparatory education will decrease parents' burnout.