The Biggest Challenges of Peds?

[GinaCat]

Hi Peds nurses :)

I work on a tele unit, but I have truly always loved kids. I just wonder if I would love them as much in a nursing setting. Big difference from playing with them!

Anyone want to share their experiences? Is the family the challenge? The inability to communicate? The hugeee responsibility? What's your biggest challenge?

Thanks all ! :)

[ixchel]

The God's Will argument is very difficult to win. When you suggest that God (or whatever their deity is called) has already decided and we should allow Him to take the child, they'll counter with, "Then why did God allow all these technological advances to be discovered, if not to save my child?" I've heard that one more than once. Makes me a little crazy. God always answers prayers. Sometimes He says, "No"...

When my own child was in PICU many years ago and was hovering between worlds, I used the time I spent walking between Ronald McDonald House and the hospital to talk to God. Finally one day I just thought, "Please. Just make a choice. Either take him, or give him back - but make a choice. Make it clear to me so that I can start learning to live with it." I got my answer the very next day when my kid turned a corner. He turned 29 a few weeks ago. But I was ready to let him go if that's what my answer was, and I would not have regretted it for a moment.

Your story just brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing it! I can't imagine how hard that must have been to go through.

OP, Thank you for starting this thread. I was thinking about starting one just like it!

[yknurse]

I work on pediatrics in a small community hospital in Canada's arctic and the challenges are unlike any I could have imagined. Many of these children are obese or malnourished. They have their teeth pulled before they're 5 from bottle propping. I've seen parents giving their children Pepsi from bottles, and feeding them Doritos before age 1. Often times they grow up in alcoholic homes in abusive/neglectful environments, surrounded by addiction. (Of course, not all cases are this severe, but we see it so often here it's almost normal.)

I remember one case involving apprehension had me so stressed because there was no one to blame. The child? Of course not. The parents? Tempting, but they both grew up in environments I mentioned above and were likely FASD. How can you blame someone for not knowing better, yet be so angry because they should know better? It's tough. The challenges of education and awareness in the north are enormous.

[nursel56]

That sounds like a stressful job alright, yknurse. So often I wonder if what I do makes a difference - it sounds like in your case you already know you do, though the effects aren't immediately visible to your eyes. Bless you for what you do.