How to make changes in a hard but fulf illing way in the life of pediatricsCharmaine B. Rañada Laguna State Polytechnic University- Main Campus College of Nursing Abstract Nursing as a health care profession, focused on the care of individuals, families and communities which attain, maintain or recover optimal health and quality of life from birth to the end of life. This article explains the life of pediatrics in the pediatric ward and how nurses deal with their problems and needs using the 11 core competencies in nursing. The 11 core competencies are the following: Safety and Quality, Resources and Environment, Health Education, Legal Responsibilities, Ethical Responsibilities, Professional Development, Quality and Improvement, Research, Records Management, Communication and Teamwork. How nurses can make difference and fulfill their duties in obtaining their goals of care. Being a nurse is a serious matter because we are dealing with the lives of our patient. We must be very careful in everything that we do. Whatever happens to our patient it is our legal and moral responsibility. Always take into consideration the safety of the p atients. Dealing with lives…How to make changes in a hard but fulfilling way in the life of pediatricsWhite uniform, white stockings, white shoes together with a cap on the nurse’s head, it only presents a good and professional image of the nurse. As nurses, big responsibility is bestowed on our shoulders. The patient ’s life depends on us. A responsible and p rofessional nurse should be knowledgeable, skillful, and have a good and positive attitude. To become a competitive and well- versed nurse in the field of pediatric nursing, you must have the Knowledge, Skills and Attitude of a good nurse. As a nurse, we should perform our duties in a professional manner and do the best that we can to achieve the maximum level of wellness that our patients can attain. In dealing with pediatrics remember the following: First, get on the child’s level, to understand what the child wants. Then, introduce yourself and your role because in children, unknown people are threatening. Only give choices where
How to make changes in a hard but fulfilling way in the life of pediatrics
Charmaine B. RañadaLaguna State Polytechnic University- Main Campus
College of Nursing
Abstract
Nursing as a health care profession, focused on the care of individuals,families and communities which attain, maintain or recover optimal health andquality of life from birth to the end of life. This article explains the life of pediatricsin the pediatric ward and how nurses deal with their problems and needs usingthe 11 core competencies in nursing. The 11 core competencies are thefollowing: Safety and Quality, Resources and Environment, Health Education,Legal Responsibilities, Ethical Responsibilities, Professional Development,Quality and Improvement, Research, Records Management, Communication andTeamwork. How nurses can make difference and fulfill their duties in obtainingtheir goals of care. Being a nurse is a serious matter because we are dealingwith the lives of our patient. We must be very careful in everything that we do.
Whatever happens to our patient it is our legal and moral responsibility. Alwaystake into consideration the safety of the patients.
Dealing with lives…How to make changes in a hard but fulfilling way in the
life of pediatrics
White uniform, white stockings, white shoes together with a cap on thenurse’s head, it only presents a good and professional image of the nurse. Asnurses, big responsibility is bestowed on our shoulders. The patient ’s lifedepends on us. A responsible and professional nurse should be knowledgeable,skillful, and have a good and positive attitude. To become a competitive and well-
versed nurse in the field of pediatric nursing, you must have the Knowledge,Skills and Attitude of a good nurse. As a nurse, we should perform our duties in aprofessional manner and do the best that we can to achieve the maximum levelof wellness that our patients can attain.
In dealing with pediatrics remember the following: First, get on the child’slevel, to understand what the child wants. Then, introduce yourself and your rolebecause in children, unknown people are threatening. Only give choices where
choices exist. Importantly, do not make promises you cannot keep. Anotherthing, appearances can be deceiving – DON’T ASSUME, know what the childreally mean and their needs. Lastly, sympathize with the audience’s si tuation ifappropriate to further understand the child.
Being a health care provider, nurses must provide the highest quali ty ofnursing care to patients, rendering a safe and secured environment. Being anurse, you should be knowledgeable enough about different diseases in thepediatric ward and know ways on how to deal with those. This is the time whereyou can use your critical thinking and good decision-making skill that will ensurethe clients safety and providing privacy and comfort to the patient. An example ofa safe and quality nursing care is the proper administration of medication. It isour responsibility to ensure that we properly give the medication to the rightpatient and always apply the 12 rights in administration of medication. The rightpatient, right drug, right dose, right route, right time, right drug to drug interaction,right nursing consideration, right to educate (health teachings) , right
assessment, right evaluation, right documentation and right to refuse (Kozier,2004). This is a responsibility that some nurses forget to apply. In fact, a veryimportant task to do, to ensure that you properly administer the medication toyour client without violating their rights. A single mistake in drug administrationcould lead to a fatal effect to the client if we don’t put attention with this. Inpediatric ward, there are times that the pediatric patients are not cooperative intaking their medications especially if they are throwing tantrums. It would be achallenge for the nurse and the family to encourage the child to take themedication if it would be given orally. You should gain their trust or you need toget their attention and convince them to take the medication. Encouraging thattaking the medication will help them regain their normal health or for fast
recovery from their illness. Giving rewards or giving objects that could catch theirattention could be a good idea to convince the patient. Execution of tasks andother treatment modalities in the pediatric ward could also be a challenging taskfor the nurse in times that the patient is not cooperating.
In the pediatric ward, it is important for the nurse to effectively manageand utilize the available resources and be familiar with the environment in able toprovide a safe and calm environment for the patients. It is our duty to accomplishthe required tasks in able to provide proper care for the patients. As we all know,not all the patients in the ward can afford the high cost of medical treatment.Another challenge for us is to utilize what are the available resources and
develop a financially effective program fitted for the patients.
Working in a public hospital, our sense of creativity and being resourcefulwill be enhanced and exercised. Due to limited resources, we have to utilize inable to cater the needs of the patients. Aside from that, we need to check andensure that the equipment available are still working and can still performadequately. In the pediatric ward, the environment must be friendly and notthreatening to children to reduce their anxiety with the place and the treatment
regimens. A lot of effort should be exerted to earn the trust and cooperation ofthe children in the ward.
An addition to that, another responsibility of a nurse in the pediatr ic ward
is to educate the family of the patient about the present condition of their familymember. It is important to assess the level of their understanding andeducational needs of the family about the patients condition. Nurses give currentupdates to parents about medical procedures and the child's current condition.Nurses are the one who often relays messages from the doctor to the parentswhen the doctor is not able to immediately meet with parents. She may answerparents' questions and help locate resources the parent may need, such as thehospital social worker. It is an important duty to educate the family about thelegal procedures to be done and to get consent from them since the patientscannot decide for themselves. Proper documentation should be practiced andperformed. In addition, as a nurse, maintaining appropriate documentation must
be done using the appropriate system and always provide clients privacy andconfidentiality.
As professional nurses, we should comply with our codes of ethics.Always bear in mind that we should be careful of what we do and we should actbased on the standards and set of rules and regulations. It is very important torespect the patient and their rights. It is a Big NO-NO to scare the child if notcooperating with the procedure but instead, explain to them the importance of theprocedure, what the procedure is all about and what they should expect toprepare them with the event in order for them to cooperate. You could also gaintheir trust and cooperation with some phrases or rewards that could make them
happy and forget the painful or fearful event. You could also use colorful objectsor toys to distract them. In some cases, children are afraid of vital signs,whenever a stethoscope or a thermometer is used with them they will cry and it’s
hard to control them from crying and their vital signs could be altered. A goodalternative with that is you perform the procedure with their parents and let themknow that it is not painful. Explain to them that it doesn’t hurt. Children often fear
the nurses because they administer medication using syringe. They are the onewho inject the medications to the child thru intra-dermal, intramuscular orsubcutaneous. It could be traumatic in some; in order to perform the procedure,present to them the procedure, showing what they will do. Always remember totell the truth to children. Tell them that it will only hurt a little like the bite of an ant,
never tell them that it doesn’t hurt because children will not anticipate for anypain. If they experience the pain that they didn’t expect it will only cause them notto trust the person who told that. It would be traumatic on their part, instead ofcooperating with other procedure; they will resist the procedures and will notcooperate.
As a nurse, it is also important to provide the highest quality of care to thepatient. Proper assessment must be done to identify the highest priority needs of
the patient. Always bear in mind that you should not be contented with the qualityof care you give to your patients, you should always strive for the best and workharder to improve quality of care you give to your pediatric patients. You should always participate in the nursing rounds in able to properly assess the patient
and their condition and also to make a good nurse-patient relationship especially that your patient is pediatric and you should always be updated and aware withthe current trends in nursing treatment in able to improve quality of care. Inrelation with that, clinical research should be encouraged in able to gather newinformation that could improve the nursing process. With the gathered data youcan analyze the research data in order to apply findings into works functions.
Furthermore, communication between the nurse and the pediatric patientmust be present in order for the patient to participate in the treatment regimen.Aside from that, you should have an open communication with the health careteam in order to have a systematic and easier sharing and giving out of
information. If you have a good connection with the patient, you are able to readverbal and non-verbal cues with regards to the present condition of the patient.Especially with the ped iatric patients, they usually don’t tell what they feelbecause of their fear of the treatments but once you understand the patient, youcan easily figured out what the client wants and needs. You can respondeffectively to the needs of the patient. Being a pediatric nurse, we work withyoung patients, and we may have to ease the patient's nervousness and fear ofhospital procedures. With young patients, the nurse may cuddle the young childto soothe him or use puppets to calm the child, making the hospital seem lessintimidating. It may help to talk to an older child or find other children within thepediatric ward for him to talk with.
Lastly, we cannot work effectively with our colleagues without teamwork. Itis very important to have a beneficial working relationship with peers andcolleagues. This could provide an easier work for everyone and to lessen theburden of doing the same work for the same task and it is nice working in aharmonize environment. Good collaboration with the medical team will ensurestability of care and good communication of care plans for our patients. Workingwith the health care team and the patients’ family, we nurses can make a goodplan of care. One of our roles is to identify our goals of care and evaluate theprogress of our work, if we had attained the goals of care.
Pointers to remember….
Not all that you see is right. Know when to Learn, Unlearn and Relearnfrom what you see and hear. Learning is a continuous process. We shouldlearn based on our experiences and mistakes and the people around us.Unlearn from the wrong practices that you observed in the area and Relearnwhat is right based on written materials and textbooks.
