Nurses, Child Care Workers, School and Paediatric Nurses and Community Nurses
General Description
Do you occasionally have to care for critically ill patients and worry that you are not 'up-to-speed' in your knowledge?
This program provides general nurses an opportunity to update their skills in the care of seriously ill children. The attendee will gain information and knowledge about current emergency interventions for children. This program does not address the care and management of children who are seriously ill due to chronic or terminal illness such as cancer or cystic fibrosis.
General nurses who are required to assess and manage seriously ill or injured children in the course of their work will benefit from this educational event.
If you have identified a professional need to improve your understanding of caring for seriously ill or injured children as part of your planned learning activities, then this program will offer you an opportunity to gain continuing professional development (CPD) hours related to this topic.
Need for Program
Many nurses specialise in paediatric nursing care and work solely, caring for children. However, some nurses, who work with a range of age groups, are only occasionally required to care for children. These nurses are not specialist paediatric nurses but are required to demonstrate a reasonable level of paediatric nursing knowledge. When a child is seriously ill it is a daunting professional challenge, particularly for the non-specialist nurse. There is a need for ongoing education to enable these nurses to practice in a safe, confident and informed manner, armed with up-to-date clinical information. Nurses are required to obtain a minimum of 20 continuing professional development (CPD) hours each year, that relate to their context of practice, in order to comply with mandatory regulatory requirements.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this program is to provide an opportunity for general nurses to update their skills in the care of seriously ill children. Participants will gain information and knowledge about current emergency interventions for children. This program does not address the care and management of children who are seriously ill due to chronic or terminal illness such as cancer or cystic fibrosis. General nurses who are required to assess and manage seriously ill or injured children in the course of their work will benefit from this educational event.
At the conclusion of this program it is expected that participants will be able to:
Competently assess a seriously ill infant or child.
Explain three major differences that relate to the care of a child versus the care of an adult with a similar injury.
Demonstrate knowledge of nursing care in regard to assessment of a child in a state of shock.
Day 1
Day 2
Educators
8.30am - Registration and Welcome Tea and Coffee
9.00am - Nursing Acutely Ill Children versus Adults: Important Differences
There is a clear difference between the nursing care of adults versus the nursing care of children. These differences relate to psychosocial and age related issues. This session will review the anatomical, physiological and developmental differences of infants and children and compare them with adults. Differences in the nursing approaches to care that need to be made will be discussed.
How to focus on signs of clinical deterioration when you may also have to allay parent fears and anxieties.
Overview of pathophysiological considerations.
10.30am - Morning Tea and Coffee
11.00am - Assessment of a Sick Child
The manner in which a child is assessed also differs to that of an adult.This important session looks at why this is the case, and explains how to perform a rapid and effective assessment of a child who is seriously ill or injured. It will include:
Tips on assessing a seriously ill child whose condition may be deteriorating.
Review of some key indicators of serious illness in children?
11.15am - Fluid Management in Children
An overview of the fluid balance and the principles of enteral and intravenous fluid management in infants and children.
How to assess dehydration in a child.
The role of nurses in regard to identifying and caring for children who are dehydrated as a result of gastroenteritis or diabetic ketoacidosis.
12.30pm - Lunch Break
1.30pm - The Child in Shock
Shock is a serious and unstable state, which requires early identification and immediate, appropriate nursing care and management. Revision of the characteristics of shock in children and what you need to do, if you suspect it's presence.
2.30pm - Afternoon Tea and Coffee
2.45pm - Basic and Advanced Life Support for Infants and Children
Following on from the previous session, we now look at life saving procedures.
What is new in basic and advanced life support for children?
Intraosseous infusions - are they needed and, if so, under which circumstances?
Defibrilliation - when is it indicated and how it is performed on an infant or child?
4.00pm - Close of Day One of Seminar
Start of Day Two
9.00am - Management of Severe Respiratory Illnesses
There are many respiratory diseases that affect children. These range from minor to very severe, and may even be life threatening. Learn how to interpret common signs and symptoms of serious respiratory disease and the appropriate nursing response to such signs.
What are some of the common, severe respiratory diseases that affect young children?
Skills needed for assessing croup, bronchiolitis and asthma and the management of these conditions.
What is the role of oxygen therapy for sick children?
10.00am - Nursing Care of a Child with an Altered State of Consciousness
Children experience coma as a result of many different conditions. Learn how to differentiate the possible causes of coma and specifically the care of a child who has had a seizure.
Learn how poisoning can be a cause of altered consciousness.
10.30am - Morning Tea and Coffee
11.00am - Drowning - A Common Cause of Accidental Death in Children
Childhood drowning is still a pervasive menace where children and infants, typically, die in silence. Learn what to do if you are involved in a drowning incident.
What is needed for the initial and ongoing management of the child?
11.30am - The Seriously Injured Child -- Assessment and Stabilisation
This session reviews the role of the nurse in performing a rapid assessment and stabilisation of a child who is seriously injured.
Learn how to quickly prioritise your care.
Review the most important decisions you need to make at this time?
The following sessions will offer an update on managing major trauma in children.
12.00pm - Abdominal and Chest Injuries
A quick review of nursing care relating to chest and abdominal injuries.
How to assess the severity of different types of chest injuries.
Assessment of abdominal injuries.
Stabilisation and management of a child with chest and/or abdominal injuries.
12.30pm - Lunch Break
1.30pm - Head and Spinal Injuries
When a child experiences a head or spinal injury, the immediate care can have profound implications for the child's prognosis.
What are the crucial interventions necessary to stabilise children who have experienced trauma related to head and spinal injuries?
2.15pm - Burns and Scalds
A scald is an injury caused by hot liquid, whereas a burn is an injury caused by dry heat. This interesting session looks at the types of trauma caused by heat mechanisms and explains how to assess and apply first aid to such injuries.
Assessment of the degree of burn or scalds.
Immediate management of such injuries.
2.45pm - Afternoon Tea and Coffee
3.00pm - Transferring Seriously Ill or Injured Children
When a child or infant is so seriously ill that they require transportation to a specialist centre, they need to be carefully prepared for the journey. This final session reviews the process that needs to be considered in order to protect the child and prevent further injury from occurring.
How do you prepare a child for transfer?
What are the main risks associated with transfers?
Considerations when deciding on the mode of transport.
What about the family?
4.00pm - Close of Seminar and Evaluations
Gerry Silk
Gerry has many years of paediatric nursing experience, including 16 years in the Emergency Department of the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. The last 10 years at this renowned hospital were spent as a Clinical Nurse Educator. Gerry currently works part-time as a
paediatric nurse educator at the Angliss Hospital in Melbourne and runs her own business in paedaitric health education. Her teaching is consistently highly evaluated by participants who attend her lectures.
As well, Gerry is the author of the highly succesfull Ausmed book entitled: “Care of Sick Children: A Basic Guide.”
