REPLY 1
I can honestly say with my weekly articles readings has certainly broadened my knowledge within my field of practice.
When it comes to pediatric nurse, dealing with diverse populations requires autonomy, advanced clinical practices, and critical thinking skills. In the pediatric environment, diagnostic skill and competence in inpatient or clinical interaction are important as pediatrics care covers newborns, infants, children, adolescents, and even young adults (Rossi, et al 2020).
It is important to note that the population is often unable to articulate their pain, concerns, or disability fully and, in most cases, rely on perceptive and highly skilled practitioners to assess their needs and ease their fears. Apart from offering quality care, pediatric nurses are called to offer holistic care to the patients, including emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical care. The pediatric nurse should promote good health habits, which is one of the significant causes of illness when it comes to the pediatric nurse target patient population (Hallas, Butz, & Gitterman, 2004). The nurses are also required to follow evidence-based clinical practice guidelines when it comes to screening. Advocacy is also crucial to the children and their families. Notably, there is also a need for anticipatory guidance and counsel on the environment, development, and lifestyle in general. A pediatric nurse is more concerned with disease prevention, which is highlighted in the lifestyle, which are standard practices such as assessing the patients’ growth patterns, evaluating developmental milestones, and offering educational services to the parents on normal growth and development topics Hallas, Butz, & Gitterman, 2004). Additionally, pediatric nurse elicit comprehensive health histories, order and interpret common laboratory and diagnostic tests, prescribe medication, order immunization, diagnose and treat common acute illnesses and provide anticipatory guidance.
As a pediatric nurse, it is one’s role to educate the parents and caregivers on some of the effective methods available to protect the child’s health and the provision of general care. In some cases, the nurse can develop individualized home healthcare plans for families whose children have special needs, such as paralysis and diabetic children (Rossi, et al 2020). However, even in offering education and practicing advocacy when it comes to children’s health, the pediatric nurse is called to respect some of the principles in healthcare include the principle of autonomy, where the parents of the children have the right to make the best decision regarding the health of the child. This is common when it comes to vaccination Hallas, Butz, & Gitterman, 2004).
The pediatric nurse’s role is to offer education and information on the importance of immunization and let the parents decide what is best for their children. However, the pediatric nurse should not neglect their role on the basis of autonomy as healthcare providers at large are called for to provide care that is in the best interest of the patient, which requires the practice of kindness. Fairness and justice are also paramount for pediatric nurses in their line of work. The recommendations on trying to relate to patients who fall under the pediatric category are crucial as it helps the patient feel comfortable and try to open up (Rossi, et al 2020). However, pediatric nurses should not try to force the patients to give information as their right to privacy is important. Trying to relate to the patients is important as it makes them feel understood, which is not common with pediatric patients.
References
Hallas, D. M., Butz, A., & Gitterman, B. (2004). Attitudes and beliefs for effective pediatric nurse practitioner and physician collaboration. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 18(2), 77-86.
Rossi, S., Bagnasco, A., Barisone, M., Bianchi, M., Bressan, V., Timmins, F., … & Sasso, L. (2020). Research awareness among children’s nurses: An integrative review. Journal of clinical nursing, 29(3-4), 290-304.
REPLY 2
Weekly Articles and Possible Future Improvements
Each week we are reading articles that pertain to our clinical practices to further our knowledge and hopefully make positive changes in our practice. I have been focusing mostly in pediatric and neonatal care since that is where I have the most experience and where my passion lies. The first weeks article focused on how neonatal patients experience the world around them, and how we can cater to their senses in the neonatal intensive care unit to bring better outcomes to their health. I found a lot of the information in the article to be useful and something I can bring into my clinical practice and even help implement change through the whole unit.
Having worked in the neonatal intensive care unit I gained experience in a highly specialized practice. Working with neonates compares to no other practice not even pediatrics which I have also worked in. They both can meet at certain points, but they are not the same. In the article I read the first week I was searching on how using the infants sense of light, noise, and touch can bring out better health outcomes for the infant. In the article Is Less Noise, Light and Parental/Caregiver Stress in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Better for Neonates?, there are recommendations listed throughout on how to use these sense for the betterment of the neonate. Such as vision or light having the mother try and gain the infants attention and have the infant have repeated focus on her helps stimulate the infant and form a stronger bond between both of them. I would love to take this into my practice and encourage the parents of my patients to spend time looking into their infants eyes. In the neonatal intensive care unit, I experienced many parents focused on photos and not on actually just sitting and looking into their infants eyes. .( Venkataraman,2019) Granted the neonatal intensive unit I was working in had very little privacy and I am sure some parents felt embarrassed. Another finding the article mentioned had to deal with noise how singing and speaking to the infant brings comfort to the infant in hearing a familiar voice. I had a few parents who would sit and sing to their infant and I would like to take this into my clinical practice and teach the parents at how beneficial it is for them to speak to their infant and remind them that you are there for them. I believe this will not only have benefits on the infant but also help reduce stress on the parent. .( Venkataraman,2019)
I always found that the infant and parent bond to be very important and helping to encourage and teach the parents these lessons can improve the infants health outcomes and the parental bond. In my experience there is no other bond and love like a parent and their infant. I hope to help parents who feel like they cant bond with their infant because they are in the neonatal intensive care unit, know that there is no embarrassment or shame in loving your infant and bonding with them. Possibly providing more privacy on the unit to help promote these interactions will help.
References
Venkataraman, R., Kamaluddeen, M., Amin, H. et al. Is Less Noise, Light and Parental/Caregiver Stress in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Better for Neonates?. Indian Pediatr 55, 1721 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-018-1220-9
Edited by on Jan 26 at 10:24am
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