Journal of paediatrics and child health
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J Paediatr Child Health · Jun 2021
Paediatric presentations to Christchurch Hospital Emergency Department during COVID-19 lockdown.
To describe the variation in volumes and types of paediatric presentations to a tertiary emergency department in New Zealand during the national level 4 lockdown for COVID-19. ⋯ This study has identified a significant reduction in paediatric presentations to a tertiary emergency department in New Zealand during the national Alert Level 4 Lockdown for COVID-19. The proportional increase in the <1-year-old group may suggest a greater need for community-based child health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health support services may also need to adapt and expand to provide adequate psychological support for children during this crisis. Recognising the needs of these vulnerable groups will be critical during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in addition to informing response plans for similar events in the future.
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J Paediatr Child Health · May 2021
Positive impacts of a dedicated General Paediatrics "home" ward in a tertiary paediatric Australian hospital.
Whilst a centralised model of care intuitively makes sense and is advocated in other subspecialty areas of medicine, there is a paucity of supportive evidence for General Paediatrics. Following ward restructuring at our tertiary paediatric centre in preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic, a new dedicated General Paediatrics ward was established. We evaluated medical and nursing staff well-being, morale and perceived impacts on care after the ward's establishment. ⋯ Overwhelmingly positive responses from this study support a centralised or "home" ward model of care for General Paediatrics patients in a tertiary paediatric setting. Our findings may be relevant to General Paediatrics teams in other centres currently using multiple wards to manage their patients.
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J Paediatr Child Health · May 2021
Mental health presentations to the paediatric emergency department: A retrospective study.
To describe a cohort of patients aged 7-17 years presenting with mental health (MH) problems to an Australian tertiary paediatric emergency department (ED), in order to identify: (i) predictors of admission; and (ii) prolonged length of stay (LOS); (iii) reasons for ED presentation based on diagnosis and (iv) differences between major diagnostic groups. ⋯ Mental health presentations constitute a large proportion of ED presentations. Suicidal behaviour and self-harm account for half of them. We have identified patients at increased risk of admission and prolonged ED LOS.
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J Paediatr Child Health · Mar 2021
Case ReportsPoint of care ultrasound in the paediatric acute care setting: Getting to the 'heart' of respiratory distress.
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a growing interesting tool in the emergency setting. Its usefulness in diagnostic and therapeutic pathway of patients with respiratory distress in addition to clinical evaluation is well established in adult emergency medicine while paediatric specific data, although growing, remain limited. ⋯ Lung POCUS, in combination with cardiac POCUS, is a very useful supplementary diagnostic tool to assess the breathless child and to rapidly identify life-threatening primary etiologies or secondary physiologies. Thus, fast echocardiography is a desirable aid for paediatric emergency physicians and should be supported in all paediatric emergency settings following an adequate training that is mandatory regarding image acquisition and data interpretation.