Features of child health
A child is a body that is still being built. This makes child health special.
- Fast growth and development: height, weight, brain, movement and speech change quickly. Growth is checked on a chart.
- Weak defence: young children catch infections such as colds, diarrhoea and chest infections easily. Vaccines help.
- Dependence: a child cannot always say what hurts, cannot choose food or shelter and needs adults.
- Needs change with age: a baby, a toddler, a school child and a teenager need different care.
- Small bodies can get worse quickly, for example from loss of water.
Child health and welfare
Child welfare means all the things that help a child to be healthy, safe and to learn.
- Vaccines given on a schedule.
- Food: breast milk for babies, then a balanced diet. Growth monitoring finds underweight early.
- Safe home: clean water, clean air, a place free of danger and violence.
- School and play: learning and play build the mind.
- Protection from abuse, neglect and child labour. Every child has the right to health and care.
- Health workers, schools, families and the government work together.
Features of paediatric nursing
Paediatric nursing is nursing for babies, children and teenagers.
- Family-centred: the family is part of care. Parents stay and are taught.
- Age-fit communication: simple words, play, pictures and honesty. Come down to the child's eye level.
- Weight-based doses: medicine dose is worked out from the child's weight. Check twice.
- Safety: rails, clean hands, no small objects for babies to swallow.
- Careful observation: a child may not tell, so watch colour, breathing, play, feeding and crying.
- Play and comfort reduce fear and pain.
Ethical issues in paediatric nursing
Ethics means what is right in care.
- Best interest: decisions are made for the good of the child.
- Consent and assent: parents or guardians give consent. The child is also told and asked, in words he or she can understand. This is assent.
- The child's voice: listen to the child; take pain seriously.
- Truth: be honest and kind. Do not promise "no pain" when there will be some.
- Privacy and confidentiality: share the child's information only with those who need it.
- Protection: if you suspect abuse or neglect, report it through the proper channel.
- Fairness: every child gets care, whatever the family's money, religion or caste.
Try it
Try it: Slide the age in the 3D to 5 years and read the weight. Work out one dose by hand: 15 mg per kg per day, in 3 doses. Then check with the screen. Next, ask a younger child what they would be afraid of in a hospital, and think how a nurse could help.
Key formulas and definitions
- Child is not a small adult: growth + weak defence + dependence
- Welfare = Vaccines + Food + Safe home + School + Protection
- Dose per day = dose per kg x weight (kg)
- One dose = dose per day / number of doses
- Ethics = best interest + consent and assent + privacy + protection
Worked examples
1. Name two reasons why children need special nursing care.
They grow fast and have weak defence against infection; they also depend on adults and cannot always say what hurts.
2. A child weighs 14 kg. The dose is 10 mg per kg per day, in 2 doses. Find one dose.
Per day = 10 x 14 = 140 mg. One dose = 140 / 2 = 70 mg.
3. A parent signs consent for a 9-year-old's injection. What else should the nurse do?
Explain in simple words to the child, listen to the child's fears and get assent. Consent from parents does not mean the child is ignored.
Common mistakes
- Giving an adult dose to a child. Child doses depend on weight.
- Talking only to the parent and ignoring the child.
- Promising "it will not hurt" when it will. Be honest and gentle.
- Thinking welfare is only about food. Vaccines, safety, school and protection matter too.