Child health nursing is an area of nursing and medical practice with a focus on providing holistic care to infants, children and adolescents. It differs from paediatrics, in that the emphasis in paediatrics is ill-health and the alleviation of symptoms or disease.

One of the major principles of paediatric nursing is the concept of family centred care. Paediatric nurses function to support the family by providing nursing care that the family cannot perform, educating and supporting them to maintain their normal caring activities and actively viewing the parents as partners in the care process.

External links

---

• Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in the UK

More on [ Child health nursing ]

Journal of Child Health Care current issue

A simple act?
Carter, B.
Children's tonsillectomy experiences: influencing factors
Crandall, M., Lammers, C., Senders, C., Braun, J. V.The aim of this study was to explore factors influencing children’s (7—13 years) tonsillectomy experiences and outcomes. A prospective, repeated measures, design was used to investigate the effect of age, gender, ethnicity, time, and previous pain, hospitalization and surgery on children’s (N = 60) perceptions of anxiety, pain intensity, quality of pain and sleep, and oral intake. The relationship between postoperative pain and anxiety was also examined. Using a diary, three days of data were collected. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and a mixed linear regression model were used for analysis. Children’s tonsillectomy experiences and outcomes were affected by time, previous experience, age, and anxiety. Moderate correlations were found between level of anxiety and pain intensity. These findings provide clinicians with additional knowledge to guide their perioperative practice and care of children.
'They wouldn't know how it feels . . .': characteristics of quality care from young people's perspectives: a participatory research project
Moules, T.Literature suggests there is a need to hear from children themselves about the quality of healthcare they receive and, although their views are increasingly sought, little is known about children’s definitions of ‘high or low quality care’. This article reports on a participatory, qualitative study that set out to explore with children and young people whether they could be involved in monitoring the quality of hospital care. Nine young people played an active role in the research process, collecting data from an additional 129 participants aged between 9 and 14. Five characteristics of quality care were identified: ‘technical expertise’, ‘friendly staff ’, ‘respect’, ‘choice’ and ‘explanations’.

NPR Topics: Children's Health

As Seen On TV, Food Kids Shouldn't Be Eating
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:30:00 -0500
A federal working group just proposed guidelines for the food and beverage industry to follow when advertising to kids. A recent study found that hardly any food children see advertised on TV would meet standards for healthiness.
Giving Hope To Honduran Children With Bone Defects
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500
Birth defects such as clubfeet are routinely repaired in the United States. But in Honduras and other parts of the world, medical care is lacking, and bone deformities can cause profound problems. A new hospital in Honduras is attempting to change that.
U.S. Recalls 800,000 Swine Flu Vaccine
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:00:00 -0500
After massive efforts to convince the public that it should get vaccinated against the swine flu virus, the government Tuesday recalled 800,000 doses of vaccine targeted to children. The recall, which was based on potency concerns, may lead to fresh worries that the government rushed to get the product on the market too quickly.

Subscribe to Child_Health RSS feed

UNICEF: Child health suffers in Gaza and West Bank as.