2017 Volume 26 Pages 23-30
The purpose of this study was to examine whether the nursing practices that are applied during short-term hospitalization of children with sudden onset illness are performed accurately during fast changes in the situation.
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 nurses and analyzed the transcripts qualitatively. More than half of the children who were admitted in five medical institutions were acute cases, including acute bronchitis, acute pneumonia, infectious gastroenteritis, febrile convulsion, and mild fractures. All the children were admitted for unexpected brief hospital admissions that were shorter than the average hospitalization period of 0-14 year old children in Japan.
The categories “collection of information immediately after hospital admission,” “alleviation of suffering from symptoms and change of circumstance,” and “involvement in the practice of effective medical treatment” were extracted in the acute period. The categories “collection of information when child’s condition settles down,” “adjustment with hospitalization life when symptoms settle down,” and “involvement in the continuance of recovery process till discharge from the hospital” were extracted in the recovery period.
As nursing practices for short-term hospitalization of children with sudden onset illness require the same information collection, inspection assistance, and assistance in daily life as normal cases, it is important to accurately assess the condition of the children, and continue to devise new methods if necessary.
