Children's regard for nurses and nursing: a mosaic of children's views on community nursing

Pediatric patient engagement in clinical care, research and intervention development: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

In the last decades, pediatric patient engagement has received growing attention and its importance is increasingly acknowledged. Pediatric patient engagement in health care can be defined as the involvement of children and adolescents in the decision-making of daily clinical care, research and intervention development. Although more attention is paid to pediatric patient engagement, a comprehensive overview of the activities that have been done regarding pediatric patient engagement and the changes over time is lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide an overview of the literature about pediatric patient engagement.

METHODS

The methodological framework of Arksey & O'Malley was used to conduct this scoping review. The bibliographic databases Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO were searched for eligible articles. All retrieved articles were screened by at least two researchers in two steps. Articles were included if they focused on pediatric patient engagement, were carried out in the context of clinical care in pediatrics, and were published as full text original article in English or Dutch. Data (year of publication, country in which the study was conducted, disease group of the participants, setting of pediatric patient engagement, used methods, and age of participants) were extracted, synthesized, and tabulated.

RESULTS

A total of 288 articles out of the 10,714 initial hits met the inclusion criteria. Over the years, there has been an increase in the number of studies that engage pediatric patients. Pediatric patients, especially patients with multiple conditions or oncology patients, were most involved in studies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Pediatric patients were most often asked to express their views on questions from daily clinical care and the individual interview was the most used method. In general, the extent to which pediatric patients are engaged in health care increases with age.

DISCUSSION

This scoping review shows that there is an increasing interest in pediatric patient engagement. However, lack of uniformity about the definition of pediatric patient engagement and clear information for clinicians hinders engagement. This overview can inform clinicians and researchers about the different ways in which pediatric patient engagement can be shaped and can guide them to engage pediatric patients meaningfully in their projects.

Children living with long-term conditions and their experiences of partnership in nursing care: An integrative systematic review

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE

To describe the experiences of nursing care and partnership nursing as expressed by children living with long-term conditions.

BACKGROUND

Children with long-term conditions have higher rates of hospitalisations and adverse events in hospital, yet little is known about their experiences of nursing care. How children perceive partnership in care with their families and nurses is of interest in the achievement of safe and effective care DESIGN: An integrative review following Joanna Briggs Institute protocols for systematic reviews.

METHOD

An integrative review was chosen following Joanna Briggs Institute protocols for systematic reviews. A total of 5150 articles were screened, with 251 full-text publications reviewed. A total of 21 studies were included, three mixed-method studies and 18 qualitative studies. This review has been reported as per Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

RESULTS

Four integrated findings were identified: "Children are aware of their surroundings and needs," "Children value positive communication," "Children want to be recognised as an individual in the triadic relationship, and this can be done through nurses using tailored play;" and "Children seek a shared decision-making process."

DISCUSSION

Children wanted to be seen as an individual in Children and Young People's nursing as well as a child who craves security, fun and comfort, both from their families and nursing staff. Children described observing partnership between nursing staff and parents but felt uninvolved, with some children craving more knowledge and power to better understand their long-term condition.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Further research is required on how Children and Young People's nursing staff can better support children and empower them to be active members in the shared decision-making process if the child wishes to be involved.

How do children and adolescents experience healthcare professionals? Scoping review and interpretive synthesis

OBJECTIVE

Explore children's and adolescents' (CADs') lived experiences of healthcare professionals (HCPs).

DESIGN

Scoping review methodology provided a six-step framework to, first, identify and organise existing evidence. Interpretive phenomenology provided methodological principles for, second, an interpretive synthesis of the life worlds of CADs receiving healthcare, as represented by verbatim accounts of their experiences.

DATA SOURCES

Five key databases (Ovid Medline, Embase, Scopus, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) Plus, and Web of Science), from inception through to January 2019, reference lists, and opportunistically identified publications.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Research articles containing direct first-person quotations by CADs (aged 0-18 years inclusive) describing how they experienced HCPs.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Tabulation of study characteristics, contextual information, and verbatim extraction of all 'relevant' (as defined above) direct quotations. Analysis of basic scope of the evidence base. The research team worked reflexively and collaboratively to interpret the qualitative data and construct a synthesis of children's experiences. To consolidate and elaborate the interpretation, we held two focus groups with inpatient CADs in a children's hospital.

RESULTS

669 quotations from 99 studies described CADs' experiences of HCPs. Favourable experiences were of forming trusting relationships and being involved in healthcare discussions and decisions; less favourable experiences were of not relating to or being unable to trust HCPs and/or being excluded from conversations about them. HCPs fostered trusting relationships by being personable, wise, sincere and relatable. HCPs made CADs feel involved by including them in conversations, explaining medical information, and listening to CADs' wider needs and preferences.

CONCLUSION

These findings strengthen the case for making CADs partners in healthcare despite their youth. We propose that a criterion for high-quality child-centred healthcare should be that HCPs communicate in ways that engender trust and involvement.

Trust in the nurse: Findings from a survey of hospitalised children

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To measure hospitalised children's trust in the nurse.

BACKGROUND

Trust is central to the therapeutic relationship between the nurse and the patient. There can be no trusting relationship between the nurse and child if the parents have no trust or block the relationship (Bricher [Journal of Clinical Nursing, 8: 452, 1999]).

DESIGN

This study was a cross-sectional, correlational descriptive design using a self-complete questionnaire to measure children's trust in nurses, to examine the relationship between children's trust and their parents, and the correlations between trust and medication adherence, fear and interactions with the nurse.

METHODS

A modified version of the Children's Trust in General Nurses Scale designed by Rotenberg et al. (Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 20: 298, 2015) was used. This Scale is a short self-report questionnaire designed to elicit information on children's beliefs in, and attitudes to, trust in nurses. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology statement for observational studies was applied (von Elm [British Medical Journal, 335: 806, 2007]).

RESULTS

The results indicated high levels of trust beliefs in the nurse. The children's and parents' trust beliefs were found to be correlated. Gender did not influence trust beliefs. Younger children had higher levels of trust than older children, particularly in relation to the perceived honesty of the nurse. Trust beliefs in the nurse lessened with previous exposure to the hospital setting. One-fifth of children reported fear of the nurse. Positive interaction with the nurse was shown to be positively related to adherence to care.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Children's level of trust in the nurse can be measured. A trusting child is likely to be less fearful and experience clinical procedures as less threatening and is more likely to adhere to treatment. Children's nurses should recognise that trust can change with age and with multiple hospital admissions.

Speaking about emotional events in hospital: the role of health-care professionals in children emotional experiences

This paper presents a qualitative study aimed at exploring the role of health-care professionals in hospitalized children's emotional experiences. A total of 27 children and adolescents from ages 6 to 15 years admitted to the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology ward of an Italian hospital participated in the study. Each participant was asked to talk about an emotional experience of happiness, anger, sadness and fear, felt in the presence of a doctor or nurse on the ward. The emotional tales were coded and analyzed qualitatively. The results showed that all the emotions considered were experienced when the staff was present, nurses in particular. Doctors and nurses played a role of active participants, encouraging children's emotions, especially for happy events. More research is needed to clarify the role of the staff in supporting children to cope with negative emotions.

Hospitalized children's representations of their relationship with nurses and doctors

This article reports an explorative study which aims to investigate hospitalized children's views of their relationships with nurses and doctors. Twenty-seven school-aged children and adolescents from 6 to 15 years old in the paediatric haematology and oncology ward of an Italian hospital participated in the study. Each participant was asked to draw him or herself with a doctor or nurse from the ward while they were doing something. The drawings were analysed using Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships (PAIR) and a qualitative analysis. The results showed that the participants viewed their relationships with health professionals positively, in particular with the nurses. This relationship was perceived as close, intimate, cohesive and without conflict. In some cases it became an emotional bond. Finally, this relationship helped the patients to cope with painful and uncomfortable medical procedures, which gradually became familiar and accepted. The clinical implications of this study are discussed.