Paediatric nursing
The child and adolescent: AIEPI, family-centred care, assessment, pain, the hospitalised child and common childhood problems.
39 pages
Assessment
- Acute malnutrition in children under five: detection, the appetite test and follow-up (Res. 2350 de 2020)Weight for length, arm circumference and oedema find acute malnutrition; the appetite test…
- Assessing dehydration in a child with diarrhoea or vomiting, including intake and outputGeneral state, eyes, thirst and skin pinch classify dehydration; weight, wet nappies and intake…
- Child maltreatment: what nurses look for, record and reportNurses notice injuries that do not fit the story, record exactly what they see and hear, and…
- Diabetic ketoacidosis in children: nursing monitoring and cerebral-oedema warning signsA child in DKA needs hour-by-hour observation on a flow chart; the nurse's main job is to catch…
- Examining a child: order by age, preparing the child and child-specific measurement techniqueLook first without touching, measure breathing and pulse while the child is calm, and use the…
- General danger signs in the sick child: assess, classify by colour and referFour quick checks (can drink, vomits everything, convulsions, lethargy) find the sick child who…
- Neurological checks in children: paediatric Glasgow, fontanelle, raised intracranial pressure and head-injury observationIn a child, neuro checks adapt the Glasgow scale to age, include the fontanelle in infants and…
- Recognising the deteriorating child: the paediatric assessment triangle, PEWS and early shockA quick look at appearance, breathing and skin, age-based vital signs and an early-warning score…
Fundamental
- AIEPI: the integrated strategy for childhood illness in Colombia and the nurse's roleAIEPI is a WHO, UNICEF and PAHO strategy that checks the whole sick child, sorts the problem by…
- Family-centred and atraumatic care of the childThe family is a partner in the child's care, and every step aims to cause the child and family…
- Palliative and end-of-life care for children and their familiesPalliative care for children starts at diagnosis, runs alongside treatment, relieves suffering…
- The hospitalised child: stress by age, separation, the family and siblingsHospital takes a child away from routine, home and often family; the nurse reduces that stress…
Procedure
- Collecting urine, stool, blood and respiratory specimens from childrenPick the collection method that fits the child and the test, keep the sample clean, take as…
- Inhalers with spacer and mask, and nebulisers, in childrenA spacer, with a mask in small children, helps more of the inhaled medicine reach the airways…
- Oral rehydration at home and in the clinic: plans A and B, continued feeding and warning signsPlan A prevents dehydration at home; plan B corrects some dehydration with oral solution in the…
- Peripheral IV therapy in children: sites, securement, pumps and fluid-overload riskChildren's IV lines fail and leak easily, so choose the site carefully, protect it, check it…
Safe practice
- Communicating with children by age, and with their parentsMatch the words, the timing and the length of an explanation to the child's age, be honest, and…
- Complementary feeding from 6 months: counselling the familyFrom 6 months the baby needs other foods besides breast milk: start small, thicken and vary…
- Giving medicines to children safely: checks, liquid measures, routes and sites by age (no doses)Children's medicines are weight-based and often liquid, so errors are common: check weight and…
- Nursing the child with congenital heart disease: feeding, hypercyanotic spells, heart failure and catheterisationBabies with heart defects tire while feeding and can turn blue or develop heart failure; the…
- Nursing the child with nephrotic syndrome or glomerulonephritis: weight, oedema, urine and blood pressureDaily weight, urine checks, blood pressure and watching the oedema tell the nurse whether a…
- Nursing the infant with bronchiolitis: nasal suction, feeding, oxygen and when to escalateBronchiolitis care is supportive: clear the nose, keep the baby fed and hydrated, give oxygen…
- Pain in children: procedural and postoperative pain, sucrose, topical anaesthesia, distraction and reassessmentAssess pain with a tool that fits the child's age, prevent procedural pain with simple measures…
- Preparing a child for procedures and surgery: therapeutic play, comfort holding and consentAge-matched explanation, play with the equipment, a parent holding the child and the right…
- Preventing injuries by age, and safe sleep for infantsMost child injuries are preventable: make the home safe for the child's age, supervise near…
- The adolescent patient: confidentiality, the HEADSSS interview from the nursing side, screening and referralA structured, confidential conversation about home, school, eating, activities, drugs, sex…
- The child who swallowed something harmful: first steps, the toxicology line and preventionFind out what, how much and when; do not make the child vomit; call the national toxicology…
- The child with asthma: monitoring an attack and the written action planDuring an attack the nurse watches breathing before and after each dose; at home a written…
- The child with burns: extent by age, fluids and output, dressings and painBurns in children need age-adjusted size estimates, carefully guided fluids, warmth, good pain…
- The child with cancer: neutropenic precautions, mucositis, nausea, the central line and the familyDuring chemotherapy a fever can be an emergency; the nurse prevents infection, cares for the…
- The child with cough or difficult breathing: fast breathing, chest indrawing, home care and when to returnCount breaths for a full minute, look for chest indrawing, then teach the family home care and…
- The child with fever: measuring, comfort, family teaching and red flagsFever is a sign, not the enemy: find the child at risk by age and signs, keep the child…
- The child with seizures: febrile seizures, epilepsy and family teachingDuring a seizure keep the child safe on one side, time it and never put anything in the mouth…
- The child with type 1 diabetes: glucose checks, insulin teaching, hypoglycaemia, sick days and schoolThe nurse teaches the family to check glucose and ketones, give insulin safely, treat lows…
Law
- Ley 1098 de 2006 (Código de la Infancia y la Adolescencia) from the nursing sideColombia's children's code: every person under 18 is a rights holder whose interests prevail…
- Ley 1388 de 2010: the right to life of children with cancer, early warning signs and the care routeColombia's law for children with cancer: immediate, integral care without authorisations, from…
- Res. 2465 de 2016: anthropometric indicators and growth classification in Colombia, 0 to 17 yearsThe Colombian rule that says which growth indicators, WHO reference charts and cut-offs are used…
Calculation
- Maintenance fluid volume in children (Holliday–Segar), worked examplesThe Holliday–Segar rule estimates a child's daily or hourly maintenance fluid from body weight…
- Rehydration plans by weight (AIEPI/WHO Plan B and Plan C): worked examplesAIEPI sets the rehydration volume from the child's weight: oral solution in plan B, intravenous…
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Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order.
Representative model, for educational purposes only.