Pediatric nursing
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Do nurses manage fevers of children hospitalized for a febrile illness ritualistically or rationally? Nurses recorded temperatures more frequently during the first 8 hours in the ward with a mean frequency of 13.36 (SD = 4.76, range 5 to 24) during the first 24 hours following admission. In the majority of cases, there was a strong second hourly pattern of temperature monitoring according to the time of day (e.g., 0600 hr, 0800 hrs, 1000 hr). Seventy-six percent (51) of the children received at least one antipyretic. ⋯ The highest antipyretic administration occurred during the daytime, and the highest temperature recording occurred during the nighttime. Antipyretic administration and mean temperatures generally followed a similar pattern, except at 0800 and 1600 hours when antipyretic administration was high and mean temperatures low. This study revealed a need to further investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and decision-making criteria of nurses toward fever management.
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Comparative Study
Examining the validity, reliability, and preference of three pediatric pain measurement tools in African-American children.
To compare the validity, reliability, and preference of pain intensity measurement tools--the African-American Oucher Scale, the Wong-Baker FACES Scale, and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)--in 100 African-American children between 3 and 18 years of age. ⋯ The study findings indicated that the FACES and African-American Oucher Scales are valid and reliable tools for measuring pain in children. Among the entire sample and each age group, the FACES scale was the most preferred scale.
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For some students with asthma, allergies, or anaphylaxis, school attendance can be risky. School administrators and educators are ill prepared to address medical challenges of students with chronic illness. Yet, the number of school nurses employed in the United States and the nurse-student ratio is uncertain. ⋯ Additionally, school indoor air quality is often poor and adversely affects students' health. Nurses are natural educators and advocates. Both of these roles are instrumental in empowering families to ensure the health of their children with asthma and allergies while in school.
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To illuminate the lived experience of women facing the threat of lossing their newborn child and then experiencing the reality of their infant's death. ⋯ Women need the opportunity to evolve their own patterns and rhythms in the ambivalent transition from expected motherhood to experiencing neonatal dying and death. Knowledge about the individuality of this process may assist nurses in improving the quality of care.
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With the complexity of technologies in medical centers today, family members are frequently confronted with situations that require decision making on behalf of a loved one. Some researchers have studied the needs of decision makers directly; however, the reality of asking opinions at the bedside of a dying patient makes it a difficult issue to research directly. The vignette method has been used to extrapolate data by asking study participants how they would act under certain circumstances. ⋯ Among the three scenarios, participants simulating family decisions for infants indicated that different caregiving values may apply. They were even more likely than the others to choose mechanical ventilation as an option when the prognosis is extremely poor. All family members making decisions for a loved one, regardless of age or relationship, need supportive assistance from nurses; however, pediatric nurses who develop relationships with parents of terminally ill infants especially need to understand their values in making decisions.