Posted: April 26th, 2023

Obstacles that Nursing Staff in the Paediatric Ward Must Overcome

Obstacles that Nursing Staff in the Paediatric Ward Must Overcome

Nursing staff in the paediatric ward face many challenges in their daily work, such as dealing with complex and chronic conditions, communicating effectively with patients and families, managing emotional stress and ensuring patient safety. These challenges require nurses to have high levels of knowledge, skills, compassion and resilience. This blog post will discuss some of the main obstacles that nursing staff in the paediatric ward must overcome and suggest some strategies to cope with them.

Complexity and challenge in paediatrics

One of the major obstacles that nursing staff in the paediatric ward must overcome is the increasing complexity and challenge of paediatric care. More children are surviving with medically complex conditions and paediatric wards are no longer filled with patients who bounce back to health within 24 hours; instead, many beds are occupied by the rising numbers of children with multiple healthcare needs, disability and/or life-limiting illnesses. The fragmented health, education and social care systems often fail to provide adequate support for these children and their families, leaving nurses to coordinate their care and advocate for their needs. Moreover, nurses have to deal with the ethical dilemmas and moral distress that arise from providing life-sustaining treatments, palliative care and end-of-life decisions for children.

To overcome the complexity and challenge in paediatrics, nurses need to have advanced clinical skills, multidisciplinary teamwork, evidence-based practice and ethical reasoning. Nurses also need to engage in continuous learning and professional development to keep up with the changing needs and expectations of paediatric patients and families. Furthermore, nurses need to have access to appropriate resources, such as equipment, protocols, guidelines and policies, to support their decision-making and practice.

Communication and family-centred care

Another obstacle that nursing staff in the paediatric ward must overcome is the difficulty of communicating effectively with patients and families. Communication is essential for building trust, rapport, understanding and partnership between nurses and patients/families. However, communication can be challenging due to various factors, such as language barriers, cultural differences, emotional stress, information overload, conflicting opinions and preferences. Nurses have to communicate complex medical information, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment options and care plans to patients/families who may have different levels of health literacy, coping styles and emotional reactions. Nurses also have to involve patients/families in shared decision-making and respect their autonomy, values and beliefs.

To overcome the difficulty of communication and family-centred care, nurses need to have effective communication skills, such as active listening, empathy, clarity, honesty and feedback. Nurses also need to use appropriate communication tools, such as interpreters, translators, leaflets, diagrams and videos, to facilitate understanding and comprehension. Moreover, nurses need to adopt a family-centred approach that recognises the family as the unit of care, respects their diversity and preferences, supports their participation and empowerment, and provides them with information, education and psychosocial support.

Emotional stress and well-being

A third obstacle that nursing staff in the paediatric ward must overcome is the emotional stress and impact on their well-being. Nursing staff in the paediatric ward are exposed to high levels of stress due to the nature of their work, such as witnessing suffering and death of children, dealing with ethical conflicts and moral dilemmas, coping with workload and resource constraints, facing violence and aggression from patients/families, experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue. These stressors can affect nurses’ physical, mental and emotional health, leading to symptoms such as anxiety,
depression, insomnia, fatigue, headaches, gastrointestinal problems. These symptoms can impair nurses’ performance,
quality of care, patient safety and job satisfaction.

To overcome the emotional stress and impact on their well-being,
nurses need to have effective coping strategies,
such as seeking social support from colleagues,
friends
and family,
engaging in self-care activities,
such as exercise,
relaxation
and hobbies,
seeking professional help
from counsellors,
psychologists
or psychiatrists
when needed,
participating in debriefing
and reflective sessions
to process their emotions
and experiences,
and accessing employee assistance programs
and wellness initiatives
provided by their organisations.

Conclusion

Nursing staff in the paediatric ward face many obstacles
in their daily work
that require them to have high levels of knowledge,
skills,
compassion
and resilience.
By overcoming these obstacles,
nurses can provide high-quality care
for children
and families,
and enhance their own professional
and personal growth.

Bibliography

: Cass H et al., ‘Complexity
and challenge in paediatrics: a roadmap for supporting clinical staff
and families’, Archives of Disease in Childhood, vol. 105, no. 2, 2020, pp. 109-113.

: Round S, ‘The rewards
and challenges of paediatric nursing’, HealthTimes, 19 October 2020, .

: Clarke S et al., ‘Modern ward rounds: good practice for multidisciplinary inpatient review’, Royal College of Nursing, January 2021, .

: Kuo DZ et al., ‘Communication interventions to improve adherence to infection prevention and control measures among staff working in health care settings: a rapid review’, BMJ Quality & Safety, vol. 30, no. 4, 2021, pp. 299-308.

: Shields L et al., ‘Family-centred care for hospitalised children aged 0-12 years’, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, no. 10, 2012, CD004811.

: Hunsaker S et al., ‘Factors that influence the development of compassion fatigue, burnout and compassion satisfaction in emergency department nurses’, Journal of Nursing Management, vol. 23, no. 2, 2015, pp. 172-181.