Pediatric Nursing and Healthcare

Pediatric Nursing

Pediatric nursing is the medical care of neonates and children up to adolescence, usually in an in-patient hospital or day-clinic. Pediatrics comes from the Greek words 'paedia' which means child, 'iatrike' which means physician. ‘Paediatrics’ is the British/Australian spelling and 'pediatrics' is the United States spelling. The main role of pediatric nurses is to administer directly procedures and medicines to children according to prescribed nursing care plans. Nurses also continually assess the patient by observing vital signs, and developing communication skills with children and family members and with medical teams. Being a support to children and their families is one component of direct nursing care. Awareness of the concerns of children and parents, being present physically at times of stress and implementing strategies to help children and family members cope are all part of the work.