Dyspnea associated with acute respiratory tract infections is a common cause of emergency admissions and can be distressing for children. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a handheld fan ...intervention on physiological parameters in pediatric patients with dyspnea.
A total of 59 children aged 2 to 12 years presenting to an emergency department for upper respiratory tract infection between March 2022 and March 2023 were assigned to the experimental group (n = 32) or control group (n = 27) by urn randomization. Both groups received the hospital’s standard care, including 3 doses of inhaled bronchodilator at 20-minute intervals. The fan intervention consisted of parents applying a handheld electric fan to the child’s face at a distance of 15 cm for 5 minutes after each inhaler treatment. Oxygen saturation, heart rate, and respiratory rate were recorded before treatment and after the 3 inhaler treatments.
There were no statistical differences in descriptive characteristics between the experimental and control groups (P > .05). Oxygen saturation values were significantly higher in the control group before treatment but showed greater increases in the intervention group after treatment (P < .001). The intervention group also exhibited greater reductions than the control group in both heart rate and respiratory rate after the third treatment than pretreatment values (P < .05).
The handheld fan intervention effectively supports inhaler treatment for children with dyspnea. Further studies are recommended to assess its impact across different age groups and clinical conditions.
There is growing recognition of the critical role nursing leadership plays in healthcare. Integrating strengths-based approaches into nursing education enables positive learning settings and empowers ...nurses as leaders who foster healing and well-being for patients and their families. This paper describes an effort to integrate Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare (SBNH) and Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare Leadership (SBNH-L) into the development, implementation and evaluation of a postgraduate pediatric nursing program in Ghana. In the evaluation of the program in Ghana, three themes emerged related to strengths-based nursing: transformation of teaching and learning, impact on relationships with colleagues and impact on relationships with patients.
Aim: This study aims to determine the effects of play activities for COVID-19 positive and MIS-C pediatric patients on the anxiety and fear of children and their parents. Methods: This is an ...experimental study that was prepared through STROBE. The study population consisted of 38 children treated in a university hospital COVID-19 unit. The Children’s Anxiety Meter-State and the Children’s Fear Scale were administered before and after the play activities. The parents’ fear and anxiety were assessed using the COVID-19 Phobia Scale and the Beck Anxiety Inven- tory. The book and coloring set was prepared in advance and delivered to the experimental group in a package. After the sets were given to the parents, the parents read the book to their children the same day. Afterward, they were asked to color pictures of coro- navirus precautions together with the children. SPSS 22.00 package program was used to analyze the study data. The Mann-Whit- ney U test was used to compare independent groups, and Wilcoxon analysis was used to analyze dependent variables before and after the play activities. Results: Based on the children’s anxiety and fear scores in the experimental group, significant differences were found before and after the play activities and significant differences between the anxiety scores (<0.05) of parents and children. However, no significant difference was found between post-play anxiety and fear scores of children in the experimental group and the scores of the control group. Discussion: The experimental group had low mean anxiety and fear scores after the play activities. Play activities should be used to reduce the anxiety and fear of children who are treated in isolation in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if children are restricted to isolation rooms, their daily routines should be maintained, and their parents should be supported.
One-third of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions for pediatric acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are inappropriate. We evaluated a distance learning program's effectiveness for reducing ...outpatient antibiotic prescribing for ARTI visits.
In this stepped-wedge clinical trial run from November 2015 to June 2018, we randomly assigned 19 pediatric practices belonging to the Pediatric Research in Office Settings Network or the NorthShore University HealthSystem to 4 wedges. Visits for acute otitis media, bronchitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis, and upper respiratory infection for children 6 months to <11 years old without recent antibiotic use were included. Clinicians received the intervention as 3 program modules containing online tutorials and webinars on evidence-based communication strategies and antibioti c prescribing, booster video vignettes, and individualized antibiotic prescribing feedback reports over 11 months. The primary outcome was overall antibiotic prescribing rates for all ARTI visits. Mixed-effects logistic regression compared prescribing rates during each program module and a postintervention period to a baseline control period. Odds ratios were converted to adjusted rate ratios (aRRs) for interpretability.
Among 72 723 ARTI visits by 29 762 patients, intention-to-treat analyses revealed a 7% decrease in the probability of antibiotic prescribing for ARTI overall between the baseline and postintervention periods (aRR 0.93; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.90-0.96). Second-line antibiotic prescribing decreased for streptococcal pharyngitis (aRR 0.66; 95% CI, 0.50-0.87) and sinusitis (aRR 0.59; 95% CI, 0.44-0.77) but not for acute otitis media (aRR 0.93; 95% CI, 0.83-1.03). Any antibiotic prescribing decreased for viral ARTIs (aRR 0.60; 95% CI, 0.51-0.70).
This program reduced antibiotic prescribing during outpatient ARTI visits; broader dissemination may be beneficial.
Children’s nurses in hospitals across England are set to notice changes as the begins of Martha’s rule. NHS England announced that the first phase of the safety initiative, giving families and staff ...round-the-clock access to rapid reviews of patients, would start in April as it identified which hospitals will be involved.
The nursing context in pediatric rehabilitation is that of caring for children with disabilities and complex developmental differences and health conditions in an ever-changing and demanding ...environment. Rehabilitation nurses aim to continuously advance nursing leadership, practice, education and research to meet service needs. Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare (SBNH) is a philosophy and value-driven approach that aligns with and enables the advancement of strengths-based rehabilitation nursing and family-centred care. This paper describes the leadership approach undertaken to implement SBNH in a Canadian pediatric rehabilitation hospital context over a 10-year period. We will share what we did and what we learned.
Pain control is a priority in the clinical practice of nurses, and in pediatrics it gains particular relevance, since pain in children is a complex phenomenon. As such there is a need to improve ...knowledge in this area. To map and synthesize the evidence of the use of music intervention in pain control, in newborns and infants, when submitted to invasive procedures a Scoping review was used. Articles were selected according to previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of the 186 initial articles, 20 were selected. The analysis of the articles included in the review made it possible to identify two categories, music as a non-pharmacological intervention and music combined with another non-pharmacological intervention. Music as an isolated intervention or associated with other non-pharmacological or pharmacological interventions, promotes pain control. Despite not being the object of study, it was found some benefits in hemodynamic stability, weaning from oxygen therapy and faster invasive procedures. Music can be used to control pain in newborns when submitted to invasive procedures. However, due to the reduced scientific production found in this scoping the same cannot be said for infants.
The purposes of this article were to summarize the development of family-centered pediatric care, review the current state of nursing research in this area, and recommend directions for future study. ...A literature review of 30 nursing research studies between 1995 and 2006 was conducted. Results revealed that evidence of consistent provision of family-centered pediatric care is lacking. Many areas of research remain undeveloped, but there is a solid foundation for moving forward in conducting research focused on assisting nurses in implementing this basic philosophy of practice in all settings and situations in which children receive health care.