Pediatric Nursing

The parents/families.

The parents/families.

Agreed!!! 100%

I think we (at least where I work) cater a lot to the families where adult hospitals would not go to such lengths. I am all for catering to kids. I also understand that the parents are exhausted and worried, and I give a lot of allowance for that. But beyond a certain point the parents really start to interfere in my day, my care, the patient's anxiety, etc. And that wears on me. But then there are the good parents and I love working with them. They are an inspiration.

Agree wholeheartedly. I love my kids. I can't stand many of their parents.

Working in a Pediatric ER I can def say that parents are the worst. Now I have no kids of my own but some parents just cant handle their kids being sick. I feel for them, I really do but when your yelling at me that I dont know what I am doing and that they read all about it on meningitis.com, I kinda lose it. Parents are def the worst part about pedi nursing...oh and little veins! lol

I specialized ini emergency nursing but work in a pediatric department . mostly parents are a lot of challenge and younger kids not being able to express what is wrong with them

Other than parents getting in the way is there anything else that gets in the way?

sometimes bigger children malinger pain just to get attention

have you ever had to tell a parent to leave the room or anything for getting in the way?

I would love to be a pediatric nurse but I can't imagine the downsides. I wish it was always good and not bad!

Seems like the biggest challenge in pediatric nursing is the parents, I can't understand why it would be, after all those are their children and parents don't like to see their children sick or hurting. Janfrn, I like your approach on dealing with the parents that get in the way it is better that way than being rude and I bet it does go a long way. Thanks for the advice everyone.

Seems like the biggest challenge in pediatric nursing is the parents, I can't understand why it would be, after all those are their children and parents don't like to see their children sick or hurting. Janfrn, I like your approach on dealing with the parents that get in the way it is better that way than being rude and I bet it does go a long way. Thanks for the advice everyone.

I think you can't understand why it would be because you've never been a pediatric nurse. I'm not sure why you assume that we are rude to the parents of our patients, though. No one has stated on this thread that they've ever said to a parent "MOM, GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

I do not mind overbearing parents. I mind the abusive and neglectful ones. I'm talking about the parents who shake their baby, have custody taken away by the state, are granted limited visitation and come by to leave threatening notes to the baby's foster mother. The parents who drop their kid in the ER and take off, never coming by to see the kid during his hospitalization nor calling to check in, instead using the child's hospitalization as a vacation for themselves. Meanwhile the child lies awake crying every night because Mommy is not here with her and she has cancer and limited time left on earth. And, btw, Mommy doesn't work and doesn't have other children just can't be bothered to spend time with her kid and would rather be out at the club. The parents whose child is on the verge of death and being rushed to the OR who decide to take off so emergency surgery has to be done with no consent. The parents who can't be bothered to open the door for the visiting nurse they KNOW is coming because it's more important for them to sleep until 1PM than it is for their child to get the treatment he needs for his cancer. The parent who just doesn't give her child his G-tube feeds or seizure medications because she'd rather go out and get her nails done. Said child is NPO due to aspiration so if he doesn't get his G-tube feeds, has NO nutrition and has seizures due to non-detectable drug levels. When he gets admitted to the hospital for such, Mom doesn't come by at all. The parent who tries to use her son's Make-A-Wish as a free vacation for herself, calls the Make-A-Wish office, puts the kid on the phone and forces him to recant his original wish and say that he wants to do what she wants to do.

I have experienced every single one of the aforementioned parents. Basically, these are the parents that I deal with on a regular basis: (#18 on the second list was clearly posted by someone who doesn't know what it's used for but, otherwise, these are my pretty much kids' parents in a nutshell.)

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