Innovative Peds Clinical Experiences?

[PNCB]

The Institute of Pediatric Nursing (IPN) is creating a new web resource for undergrad nursing students and faculty facing competition for hospital/traditional peds units/sites. It's called Rotation Innovation--and we invite your input. Did you successfully partner with nontraditional sites to offer students a robust or unique clinical experience in pediatrics?

Already on our list are local public schools, Head Start programs, camps, and therapeutic riding centers for equine-assisted activities and therapy.

We hope you can share your ideas below. The IPN is a committee of the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board. Thanks so much!

[poppycat, ADN, BSN]

What about Pediatric long term care facilities?

[PNCB]

Thanks! We'll make sure this is on the list, along with pediatric medical day care centers. Much appreciated!

[poppycat, ADN, BSN]

Another setting that might be good would be a WIC office.

[PNCB]

Great idea!

[SiwanRN]

You could also seek out your local HCP office, or the equivalent for your state. The nurses there provide care coordination for children and youth 0-21 who have or are at risk for special developmental, emotional, physical, mental, or medical needs. They help to coordinate screening for children with suspected needs and care coordination for those who do. They also assist in transitioning from hospital to home and from pediatric to adult care for teens and youth. This is the website for the Colorado program: HCP, a program for children and youth with special health care needs | Department of Public Health and Environment I'm sure other state or local health departments in your area may have something similar.

[enuf_already]

OP, you mentioned local public schools. What about private schools/programs for children with autism or other special needs/behavioral challenges?

There are also schools run by local Boards of Developmental Disabilities.

Also, consider early intervention programs (birth to 3).

[PNCB]

These are great - thank you both! This will be a national resource, so for HCP offices we'll provide a description. We'll also add health care programs for children in foster care.

[poppycat, ADN, BSN]

Early intervention program is a great suggestion. My daughter was in that because of being mildly autistic. It's very interesting watching how they work with the kids. Students could learn a lot about normal vs. delayed development.

[A&Ox6, MSN, RN]

I am not a nurse educator, but I work for a foster care agency that has a large number of medically fragile cases. I can imagine it being a great experience for pediatric experience because it combines family process, abuse detection, congenital and a wired pediatric disorders, and a lot of education.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Peds private duty.

I have read somewhere (Indiana University???) of a school that ran three, one-week stayover camps for special needs children and the students were a part of the nursing staff AND camp faculty. One week of camp = one clinical rotation.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Schools could also make much better use of the time they get on peds inpatient experiences. I coordinate the scheduling of students from multiple schools in the children's hospital where I work. There is a lot of competition for the available slots -- but schools could be much more efficient with the time they get, too, and get more benefit from their time spent at the hospital.

There is lots of room for improvement -- starting with re-thinking the role of peds education in the undergraduate curriculum ... acknowledgement that every student need not receive the exact same experience ... and how the world has changed in the last 20 years. Many faculty members want things to be "like the old days, when they were students," -- but of course, the world has moved on. And peds education must move on, too.