Caring for a child with cancer is a particular challenge for the medical staff, during the hospital stay, and for the parents. It is extremely important to respond appropriately to the health, intellectual and physical needs due to the child's developmental stage. The appropriate preparation of the child for the hospital stay, the education of the parents, the preparation of the medical and nursing staff as well as the organisation of free time according to the child's needs and occupational therapy are all important here. To quote Janusz Korczak's words "a child is not a small adult", it is important to bear in mind that the needs of a child are different from those of an adult and require a different therapeutic approach and specific care.

Hospitalisation, i.e. a period of time spent in a medical facility, is an opportunity for the patient to save his or her health or life, but it is also the ultimate form of help, which generates stress and emotional tension with somatic and emotional functioning consequences. Stress is a factor that has a very negative impact on the mental state of the patient and his parents. It causes a loss of strength and the will to continue fighting the illness. Parents often also need time to get used to the situation, but unfortunately they do not give their children adequate support. Chronic anxiety, at the onset of illness symptoms, causes a range of psychological and somatic symptoms in the child, thus having a very negative impact on the child's development.

Reactions to a diagnosis such as cancer vary greatly, both for children and their parents. The first stage of reaction to the illness (according to N.K. Cohn) is the psychological shock stage, where older children and parents do not accept the diagnosis, activating mechanisms such as denial and denial. After this phase comes the stage of waiting for a cure, which brings with it high expectations of medical personnel and "waiting for a miracle".

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The next stage is bereavement, where parents of young children cannot accept that their previously healthy child is now very ill. In the case of older children, that grief and despair is also shown. The stage of defensive behaviour can manifest itself in a neurotic way (where limitations are not perceived and there is no desire to comply) or in a healthy way (by adapting to the situation and taking up the fight against the illness by cooperating with the medical staff). The final stage is the stage of adapting to the situation and accepting that the illness is one of many elements of life that must work together for full remission of the disease.

How should parents react to the situation? It is extremely important to accept the child and all their problems and fears. Interacting together with the child in the fight against the illness. Giving reasonable freedom builds up the child's self-confidence and allows the child to become independent and responsible. Recognising the child's rights, whether it is the right to develop, the right to stress, anxiety or the right to information about treatment. These are positive parental attitudes. Inappropriate parental attitudes include behaviours such as avoidance, pushing away, making excessive demands and overprotectiveness.

For both parents and medical staff, the art of communicating with the child, being able to establish a rapport with the child, taking into account the child's feelings, emotions, treatment conditions and hospitalisation is of great importance. Specialists such as a psychologist, educationalist or therapeutic educator are there to help both children and their parents adapt to the situation.[1]