Nursing children and young people最新文献

Background: The use of simulation can be effective in developing empathy in nursing students. This is particularly valuable in children's nursing where caring for the emotional needs of parents is a fundamental aspect of learning.

Aim: To evaluate the use of infant simulation dolls by students undertaking a BSc (Hons) nursing (child) programme in one university in England, and to assess their value in simulation-based learning and in students' development of empathy with the parenting experience.

Method: Thirty-seven first-year students were each provided with an infant simulation doll to care for at home for one week. Following completion of the simulation experience, 18 students completed an online survey comprising closed questions with free-text space for expanding on their answers. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analysed thematically.

Findings: Five themes emerged: practical use of the doll; views and value of the experience; preparation for and relevance to clinical placement practice; development of empathy for parents; and ideas for other potential uses. Overall, the respondents reported that the simulation experience was positive and provided them with a greater understanding of the demands and emotional toll of parenting. Some respondents highlighted technical challenges with the software and the limited realism of infant simulation dolls.

Conclusion: Infant simulation dolls can enhance empathy and reflective learning in children's nursing students, supporting family-centred practice and complementing traditional educational approaches.

Acute post-operative bladder spasm (APBS) is a painful and distressing condition that commonly occurs in children and young people following urological surgery. Healthcare professionals caring for these patients should anticipate the occurrence of APBS after certain urological surgical procedures and understand how pain caused by APBS differs from general post-surgical pain. This article outlines the incidence, symptoms and pathophysiology of APBS and highlights the importance of a multimodal management strategy involving a range of non-pharmacological and pharmacological measures and interventions. By enhancing their understanding of APBS and its clinical management, children's nurses can alleviate pain and support post-operative recovery for children and young people as well as reduce distress for children and young people and their families.

Background: Emotional regulation is central to the mental health of adolescents and young adults. Adaptive coping supports resilience, while maladaptive patterns increase vulnerability. Despite its importance, emotional regulation among young people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is underexplored.

Aim: To identify common emotional regulation strategies among adolescents and young adults in the UAE and examine the influence of social, cultural and technological factors on their emotional well-being.

Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 394 adolescents (11-18 years) and young adults (19-20 years) from schools and universities in three UAE emirates. Respondents completed bilingual questionnaires and scenario-based vignettes, incorporating items from validated tools and custom measures. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis.

Results: Most respondents (69-88%) used adaptive coping, although some (12-31%) reported maladaptive responses. Few practised mindfulness (25%) or used digital tools (24%), while 70% reported academic stress, 77% sleep problems, 45% anxiety and 40% sadness. Family support was limited (42%), with peer and school support moderate.

Conclusion: Culturally relevant, bilingual interventions integrating school programmes, family engagement and digital tools are needed. Consideration is given to the relevance of these findings in the specific context of the UK.

This article explores the often-overlooked experiences of cisgender siblings when their sibling undergoes a gender transition. Using a combination of a rapid literature review and the lived experience of a young cisgender sibling, it highlights the emotional, social and familial challenges that can arise during this transition. The sibling relationship is one of the longest and most significant in a person's life, yet research and professional support in this area remain limited. The article outlines a four-stage process through which families typically progress: discovery and disclosure; resulting turmoil; negotiation of the situation; and finding balance and acceptance. It emphasises the critical role of healthcare professionals in providing informed, compassionate and inclusive support to transgender young people and their families. Practical recommendations for nursing practice are provided, including the importance of listening, using appropriate pronouns and facilitating family-centred care. The article concludes with a call for further research and enhanced professional training to support sibling inclusion in transgender healthcare.

Increasing numbers of babies, children and young people are being fed via surgically placed enteral feeding tubes. A common complication of this intervention is overgranulation of the stoma site, which can cause pain, bleeding and leakage of gastric contents. This article reports the findings of a rapid review, undertaken using a critically appraised topic approach, that aimed to identify the most effective treatment options for overgranulation in this context and to support evidence-based practice. Five treatment options were identified: 'do nothing'; natural therapies; non-steroid treatment; corticosteroid treatment; and surgical or cautery removal. Based on the findings of the rapid review, the authors propose an evidence-based treatment pathway for the management of overgranulation of stoma sites in children with an enteral feeding tube. The pathway aims to enable nurses to apply their clinical judgement in treatment choice in partnership with children and families to support family-centred care.

Children and young people may be eligible for continuing care at home where their healthcare needs cannot be met solely through existing universal or specialist services. Those assessed as eligible receive a bespoke package of care which may be overseen, managed and coordinated by community children's nursing teams, and which requires a significant amount of nurse management time. This article discusses the provision of continuing care in England and the importance of including adequate nurse management time in commissioned care packages. The author describes the development of a tool by the community children's nursing team in Warwickshire, England, designed to quantify nurse management time based on data from the continuing care assessment decision-support tool, direct care hours and number of competencies required to provide safe care. The outcome, in the form of weekly nurse management hours, is then recommended to commissioners for inclusion in the commissioned care package. Local audit data suggest that the tool can estimate effectively the required number of weekly nurse management hours, particularly for larger care packages. The team has secured positive changes in the commissioning of nurse management time for existing and new patients on its caseload.

The System-wide Paediatric Observation Tracking (SPOT) programme in England aims to improve the recognition of, and response to, deterioration in the health status of children and young people in any healthcare environment. The first phase of the programme involved the development of a standardised inpatient chart and track and trigger system, or Paediatric Early Warning System (PEWS), for England. This is the first of two articles that aim to develop nurses' knowledge and understanding of the SPOT programme and the PEWS to assist them in providing safe and effective care to children and young people. This first article describes the assessment, documentation and scoring of a child's vital signs and observations to calculate a PEWS score, which indicates the required escalation level and corresponding actions to take. The article also outlines the assessment and documentation of other important physiological parameters that do not contribute to the PEWS score but inform the escalation level and actions to take.

The availability of community practice placements for children's nursing students has come under pressure due to workforce constraints, such as staff shortages, and the ongoing effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has limited students' access to clinical environments. This service evaluation details a pilot project where the authors co-designed, with parent service users, and implemented a novel approach to practice placements for registered nurse degree apprenticeship (RNDA) in child nursing students. The Welcome to Our World project linked students with a family for an eight-week period to enable the students to learn about children's unique needs from parents who are 'experts by experience'. Evaluation of the project demonstrated numerous benefits for the students and the families involved, and expanded local practice placement capacity, thereby reducing the pressure on traditional practice placement settings.

Since 1973, a series of cases of children known to health and social care services who died of abuse and neglect have highlighted repeated failures of public agencies to work together to protect children exposed to intrafamilial harm. Despite child protection systems and procedures designed to facilitate interagency working and the sharing of information, professionals working with children may still not have an adequate understanding of their role in the child protection process. This article explores lessons that can be learned from the past 50 years. It reminds nurses of their child protection responsibilities and provides an overview of key sections of the legislation pertaining to safeguarding and child protection. The article also discusses the barriers nurses typically face when trying to identify and protect children exposed to, or at risk of, neglect and abuse, and strategies they can employ to maintain child-centred practice.

Childhood arrhythmias are relatively rare but can present with a wide range of symptoms, depending on the type of arrhythmia, the child's age and the presence of underlying cardiac conditions. This article provides an overview of the most common childhood arrhythmias, exploring diagnostic methods and outlining treatment options. It also highlights key 'red flag' symptoms requiring urgent referral and the role of nurses in assessment, management, education and long-term support of affected children and their families. Understanding arrhythmias, recognising when to escalate care and delivering age-appropriate information are essential for improving outcomes and ensuring safe, effective nursing care.