How to make changes in a hard but fulfilling way in the life of pediatrics Charmaine B.

Raada 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 patients. Dealing with livesHow 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 the nurses head, it only presents a good and professional image of the nurse. As nurses, big responsibility is bestowed on our shoulders. The patients life depends on us. A responsible and professional nurse should be knowledgeable, skillful, and have a good and positive attitude. To become a competitive and wellversed 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 childs level, to understand what the child wants. Then, introduce yourself and your role because in children, unknown people are threatening. Only give choices where

choices exist. Importantly, do not make promises you cannot keep. Another thing, appearances can be deceiving DONT ASSUME, know what the child really mean and their needs. Lastly, sympathize with the audiences situation if appropriate to further understand the child. Being a health care provider, nurses must provide the highest quality of nursing care to patients, rendering a safe and secured environment. Being a nurse, you should be knowledgeable enough about different diseases in the pediatric ward and know ways on how to deal with those. This is the time where you can use your critical thinking and good decision-making skill that will ensure the clients safety and providing privacy and comfort to the patient. An example of a safe and quality nursing care is the proper administration of medication. It is our responsibility to ensure that we properly give the medication to the right patient and always apply the 12 rights in administration of medication. The right patient, 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 very important task to do, to ensure that you properly administer the medication to your client without violating their rights. A single mistake in drug administration could lead to a fatal effect to the client if we dont put attention with this. In pediatric ward, there are times that the pediatric patients are not cooperative in taking their medications especially if they are throwing tantrums. It would be a challenge for the nurse and the family to encourage the child to take the medication if it would be given orally. You should gain their trust or you need to get their attention and convince them to take the medication. Encouraging that taking the medication will help them regain their normal health or for fast recovery from their illness. Giving rewards or giving objects that could catch their attention could be a good idea to convince the patient. Execution of tasks and other treatment modalities in the pediatric ward could also be a challenging task for the nurse in times that the patient is not cooperating. In the pediatric ward, it is important for the nurse to effectively manage and utilize the available resources and be familiar with the environment in able to provide a safe and calm environment for the patients. It is our duty to accomplish the 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 resourceful will be enhanced and exercised. Due to limited resources, we have to utilize in able to cater the needs of the patients. Aside from that, we need to chec k and ensure that the equipment available are still working and can still perform adequately. In the pediatric ward, the environment must be friendly and not threatening 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 of the children in the ward. An addition to that, another responsibility of a nurse in the pediatric ward is to educate the family of the patient about the present condition of their family member. It is important to assess the level of their understanding and educational needs of the family about the patients condition. Nurses give current updates to parents about medical procedures and the child's current condition. Nurses are the one who often relays messages from the doctor to the parents when the doctor is not able to immediately meet with parents. She may answer parents' questions and help locate resources the parent may need, such as the hospital social worker. It is an important duty to educate the family about the legal procedures to be done and to get consent from them since the patients cannot decide for themselves. Proper documentation should be practiced and performed. In addition, as a nurse, maintaining appropriate documentation must be done using the appropriate system and always provide clients privacy and confidentiality. 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 act based on the standards and set of rules and regulations. It is very important to respect the patient and their rights. It is a Big NO-NO to scare the child if not cooperating with the procedure but instead, explain to them the importance of the procedure, what the procedure is all about and what they should expect to prepare them with the event in order for them to cooperate. You could also gain their 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 objects or 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 its hard to control them from crying and their vital signs could be altered. A good alternative with that is you perform the procedure with their parents and let them know that it is not painful. Explain to them that it doesnt hurt. Children often fear the nurses because they administer medication using syringe. They are the one who inject the medications to the child thru intra-dermal, intramuscular or subcutaneous. It could be traumatic in some; in order to perform the procedure, present to them the procedure, showing what they will do. Always remember to tell the truth to children. Tell them that it will only hurt a little like the bite of an ant, never tell them that it doesnt hurt because children will not anticipate for any pain. If they experience the pain that they didnt expect it will only cause them not to trust the person who told that. It would be traumatic on their part, instead of cooperating with other procedure; they will resist the procedures and will not cooperate. As a nurse, it is also important to provide the highest quality of care to the patient. 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 quality of care you give to your patients, you should always strive for the best and work harder 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 with the current trends in nursing treatment in able to improve quality of care. In relation with that, clinical research should be encouraged in able to gather new information that could improve the nursing process. With the gathered data you can analyze the research data in order to apply findings into works functions. Furthermore, communication between the nurse and the pediatric patient must 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 care team 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 read verbal and non-verbal cues with regards to the present condition of the patient. Especially with the pediatric patients, they usually dont tell what they feel because of their fear of the treatments but once you understand the patient, you can easily figured out what the client wants and needs. You can respond effectively to the needs of the patient. Being a pediatric nurse, we work with young patients, and we may have to ease the patient's nervousness and fear of hospital procedures. With young patients, the nurse may cuddle the young child to soothe him or use puppets to calm the child, making the hospital seem less intimidating. It may help to talk to an older child or find other children within the pediatric ward for him to talk with. Lastly, we cannot work effectively with our colleagues without teamwork. It is very important to have a beneficial working relationship with peers and colleagues. This could provide an easier work for everyone and to lessen the burden of doing the same work for the same task and it is nice working in a harmonize environment. Good collaboration with the medical team will ensure stability of care and good communication of care plans for our patients. Working with the health care team and the patients family, we nurses can make a good plan of care. One of our roles is to identify our goals of care and evaluate the progress 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 Relearn from what you see and hear. Learning is a continuous process. We should learn based on our experiences and mistakes and the people around us. Unlearn from the wrong practices that you observed in the area and Relearn what is right based on written materials and textbooks.

LAGUNA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY Sta. Cruz Campus Sta. Cruz, Laguna S.Y. 2011-2012 COLLEGE OF NURSING

DEALING WITH LIVES....

How to make changes in a hard but fulfilling way in the life of pediatrics
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Prepared by: Charmaine B. Raada BSN 4- A