Pediatric Unit Reflection

I was on the unit when a new child was admitted, and this gave me the opportunity to observe therapeutic play and how the child benefits from it. The preschool child was admitted to the unit due to a femur fracture that would require surgical intervention and had been admitted to the unit until the surgical team could be assemble in order to reduce stress for the child. After the child’s pain was brought down to a manageable level in the emergency department, the child was brought up to the unit with orders to start an IV so that it was in place prior to the child heading to surgery. While the child was in his room, the nurse brought a bear and an open IV kit into the child’s room. The entire process of starting an IV was explained in simple
terms and also demonstrated on the bear. The child was encouraged to explore the IV kit and even “start” the IV on the bear himself. This entire process helped calm the fears of the child regarding a medical procedure that was very scary to him.
5. Reflection I found that working on a pediatric unit was a very unique experience.
It was similar to working the adult med/surg unit, but it everything was done much slower. Each child was approached only when they were comfortable with the nurse and what was going to be done. I learned the importance of gaining a child’s understanding and cooperation prior to doing anything with them has a better outcome for everyone. I learned that family is a true part of the care team. I learned that children can be very forgiving of the pain that is caused during medical procedures if they have a safe place to go afterwards. I learned that children may not understand everything, but they handle everything better if they are educated at their developmental
level. I found that the time spent on the pediatric unit was very beneficial, since I was able to really see how family can be a part of the care team. I have understood that family should be part of the team, but I have not seen how they could truly be incorporated. On the pediatric unit, the family became a resource for information, part of the support team for the patient, and an aid for the nurse. This was seen when my nurse asked the family for a newly admitted child how they took their medication best and if the family felt the child would be more open to medication coming from them. I do think that I would be able to work on a pediatric unit, but not for a long period of time. I did find it difficult to see the children in pain and in distress. On the other hand, it was very rewarding to be able to help the children and their families during their time of need. I think if I was pulled to the unit, I would be comfortable enough to work the unit. However, I do not feel that I could emotionally handle working a pediatric unit long term since I do not like seeing children in pain. Maybe I could be the one who works the pediatric unit while another nurse is on leave or vacation. This entire experience was not what I expected. I expected to enter a unit where the crying would be overwhelming. I found that over all, the unit was very quiet and laughter could be heard ringing down the halls regularly. I still heard crying, but it was the typical crying that little ones do when they are hungry, tired, or not getting their way. None of the children seemed afraid of any of the staff, and many of the children were asking who was on the next shift and even asking for specific nurses by name. Overall, I found the unit to be a fairly happy place and not as depressing as I expected.
6. Research Article I found a research article in the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses that discusses the negative impact of a child being hospitalized from the child’s perspective. The article talks about how the increase of discomforts that a child experiences increases the negative psychological effects of being hospitalized. Children who experienced time in the hospital were interviewed about their experiences, and the results were recorded for evaluation. The children were able to express their opinion as to what caused the most discomfort and what comforted them the most (Carnevale & Gaudreault, 2013). The information gleaned from this research can be utilized to aid nurses in ensuring the negative aspects of being hospitalized are negated by the child’s preferred comforts. The article addresses that children value comfort items to help them handle stress while in a hospital setting.
Some of the interventions that the article points out would be having family close, having a favorite lovey/comfort item, pain control, and boredom relievers. By knowing that these things help relieve the stress a child experiences while in the hospital, staff can help ensure the child has their psychological needs met. When working with children, some of the things I could do to help ensure the child’s comfort would be to ask the child if they want their parents with them while they undergo a painful or scary procedure. I would also ensure that the child has their preferred lovey (a lovey is any comfort item that is of most importance to a child, it could be a stuffed animal, blanket, toy, or random household item) anytime they have to leave the
room. While on the Peds unit at Sanford, I was a lot of the interventions discussed in the article were already in place. My nurse stated that parents are a huge comfort to the child, so the hospital encourages the parents to stay with the child during the child’s entire stay. In order to facilitate this, the hospital has provided pullout sofas or a larger bed so that the parent can sleep in the room. My nurse also located the child’s lovey and ensured that it was within reach every time she entered or left the child’ room. She also worked on reducing the beeping and pinging of medical equipment, and geared all education to the child’s developmental level to help reduce the child’s fear of the unknown.
9. Conclusion Just because children are smaller and appear more fragile, it does not mean that a nurse needs a completely different skill set as compared to working with adults. It just means that the nurse needs to approach the client from a different perspective and remember that the tiny people come with a different set of fears and a unique way of viewing what is going on around them.