This study aimed at developing a critical pathway for the children undergoing tonsillectomy.

Six steps of critical pathway developmental process were used based on the literature review. The researcher reviewed 70 medical records of children who had tonsillectomy between January 4th and April 30th, 2001. They received 76 kinds of medical services during six average hospitalization days. Five of them had post-operative bleeding problem. A professional group carefully screened 67 out of 76 medical services and adopted them with five average hospitalization days as the critical pathway framework. This framework was applied to 34 children undergoing tonsillectomy during June 1st through August 21st, 2001.

The children who used the pathways with five average hospitalization days had post-operative bleeding problem. In other words, the group who utilized the critical pathway resulted in better outcomes compared to the group who did not use the tool.

Since the critical pathway is an efficient care management tool, nurses need to participate more positively participate in developing and utilizing the tool for other health problem.