PLAY AS AN EXPRESSION OF ETHICAL CARE IN PEDIATRIC NURSING IN HOSPITAL SETTINGS

Abstract

This article presents a theoretical reflection on play as an expression of ethical care in pediatric nursing within hospital settings. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Winnicott, Waldow, and Boff, play is understood as the symbolic language of childhood and as a relational technology that contributes to the humanization of care and the re-signification of the hospitalization experience. Play is analyzed as an ethical practice that articulates bonding, empathy, and professional presence, highlighting the centrality of listening, affectivity, and the recognition of the child as a subject of rights in the nurse–child encounter. When incorporated into nursing practice, play transcends its recreational character and assumes clinical, communicational, and educational functions, contributing to the reduction of suffering, the strengthening of the therapeutic bond, and the child’s adaptation to the care process. This perspective dialogues with global commitments to sustainable development, particularly the principles of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, by emphasizing the role of nursing in promoting child well-being, ethical and humanized professional training, and the guarantee of dignity, equity, and children’s rights in care contexts. It is concluded that play, when recognized as an ethical dimension of pediatric nursing, contributes to the qualification of care and to the consolidation of child-centered practices grounded in human dignity.