What do people find the hardest part of paediatric nursing?

OHmom2boys · Feb 8, 2003

NON-COMPLIANT parents. Those are the ones who get me.

cpgrn · Feb 8, 2003

It's definitely the parents! It doesn't get any easier the older they get. I worked with 3-5 year olds and now I'm with 12, 13, 14 year olds - the parents never get any easier.

IRISHBREAD · Feb 12, 2003

i guess i have to stand up for parents once again. yesterday i was admitting a 7 mo old who i had taken care of when she was 1 month old--the parents were so happy to see me. they felt that their child would get a lot of loving care. in the next room i had a 6 yr old. when a visitor came in, she apparently recognized me and told the grandmother that i was great. if you treat your parents with respect, give then some understanding, i promise any parent will co-operate with you. they are scared. you have to remember you are caring for their most precious possession.

cna on her way · Apr 12, 2003

I am not a nurse (yet) but I am a parent of a child who has had 14 surgeries and more than 20 other hospital stays. And I can honestly say that I can remember all of the good nurses and all of the bad. I know that I have been a problem for some nurses and thats just life. I know my child and what I want done for my child. I hate to see him sick and I hate to see him scared. If it was your child laying in a bed with a chest tube and a vent after open heart surgery, you'd understand where the "horrible parent" issue comes from. Thank you to all of the wonderful ped nurses out there. You are unbelievably appreciated.

nursiemitch · Apr 18, 2003

the thing i find the hardest is the lack of knowledge and parenting skills - parents, extended parents, well meaning family friends, the works.

When families are stressed, advise, no matter how well meaning in intention, can sometimes not have the desired effect.

the kids are the innocent victims in some situations, and I find that hard

karenelizabeth · Apr 19, 2003

Originally posted by bergren
1. The deaths. They seem to come in clusters. You can go sometimes a year, and then - 3 in 3 weeks. Even when you expect them, and even when you know it is for the best...

2. The abuse cases. Beautiful damaged kids.

3. The growing number of foster situtations. Sending a sick extremely depressed kid home with someone who does not love them, separated from their siblings.

The parents don't get to me. They are scared, have lost control of their child and their life, they are in a setting where they don't know ther rules, or the language.... They are exhausted, sleep deprived, worried about their job and the kids they left at home. They have always tried to protect their child from pain and hurt and fear, and it is all out of their control. We have such an advantage when our loved ones are sick. We know that when we are told the neurosurgeon will see us on rounds that we are in for what may be a 3 - 8 hour wait. And it goes on and on. We know when the doctors can't tell us what is wrong that they really don't know. Lay people think the physicians are keeping the truth from them.

When most parents go home, they RAVE about the nurses. They remember every kind word, evey face and name.

I would add:

1. seeing a child in pain and not being able to do something

2. seeing parents in pain and not being able to do anything

I normally work in Neonatal intensive care but recently while doing a specialist course I ended up working on a paediatric burns and neuro ward seeing kids with brain tumours of after non accidental injuries thats what I found really hard :sniff:

I think sometimes we as nurses are so judgmentally of parents god knows what I'd be like if it was my child. As a result in my normal job guess who gets the babies with what others call "difficult" LOL

ME !!

My only set of parents I cant care for are Mum's who are users. The babies are no problem to me but I cant stop judging their mothers and therefor cant give the best care so leave it to someone else.

But I love my job I've been there for over 8 years now and wouldn't want to do anything else, infact the course has also confirmed this too

Karen

bergren · Apr 19, 2003

I had forgotten the burn cases. I have not taken care of children with burns for quite some time, but I had nightmares when I did. Children with burns were definitely the hardest to cope with of the many types of patients I had. The pain and the debridement....

nurs4kids · Apr 23, 2003

After last week, I must add something..

GRANDPARENTS...

Had the g'mother from heck..transfer from OSH, wanted to tell me EXACTLY how THEY did everything..and wanted it done that way.

I just wanted to ask, "if THEY did it so well, why'd you transfer your g'child here??". But of course, I didn't. The parent's were precious, just the g'mom..who happened to work as a Dietary Supervisor at another hospital in town. Guess that made her an expert on nursing too..lol

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Apr 24, 2003

I plan on being the absolute nightmare of a parent when/if a child of mine is ever hospitalized, and every parent's job is to make sure that their child gets the best care. But that doesn't make the job of providing perfect care any easier, especially with someone comparing every move you make with the previous five shifts.

-not that there's anything wrong with that-it just makes the job stressful.

renerian, BSN, RN · Apr 24, 2003

When I did my peds rotation it was at an inner city hospital. Every one of my kids were abuse cases. Really bothered me.

renerian

forget it! · May 10, 2003

PARENTS, WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!!!!!!!!!

StevenRN · May 10, 2003

If you're going to do peds, you've got to be honest..

with yourself...

with parents...

and, most importantly, with the kids!