Journal of Child Health Care

Although the impact of developmental care on premature infants has been investigated at length, often the issue of professional development and training related to this type of care has not been examined. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of a developmental care training programme on nurses’ behaviours and cognitive attributes with regard to the prevention of overstimulation of premature infants. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was the framework underlying the study. This programme evaluation used a quasi-experimental one group pre-test/post-test design. Participants were nurses working in a neonatal intensive care unit. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaires. Significantly higher post-test scores were observed for knowledge and for a variety of theoretical constructs. The results of this study showed the potential of such training programmes to help nurses implement developmental care.

National guidelines exist to help schools in supporting pupils with medical needs. However, school staff are not contractually bound to help with the administration of medication and policies differ across schools, depending on local needs and views. A postal survey was conducted in Sheffield to elicit schools’ views regarding medication administration. Over 80 percent of the responding schools were willing to administer long-term medication and 67 percent would help with short-term needs as well. Written information from professionals is valued by most schools and many would prefer that dosages of medication are adjusted to avoid school hours. Of the schools, 17 percent did not want to take any responsibility for medication administration. Reluctance seems to arise from perceived lack of training and fear of litigation. These issues need to be addressed in order to improve school staff’s confidence with the administration of medication.

Emotional reactions of parents after the birth of an extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infant were followed during the early period of hospital care. Ten pairs of parents participated. The process concerning feelings of sadness, anger, fear/anxiety and joy was measured by Single Systems Design (SSD). The infants were born in gestation weeks 23-27. The emotional reactions of the mothers and fathers did not differ significantly. There was emotional confusion during the first weeks of parenthood, then the negative feelings decreased and joy increased. But at the end of a long period of care, the negative feelings reappeared. It is important to be aware that the first weeks after birth can be marked by emotional confusion and that negative feelings can return when the infant’s medical status has been brought under control. The latter might be explained emotionally as a delayed crisis reaction.

The aim of this study was to investigate and interpret ideas inherent in sleep and diet consultations concerning infants in Swedish child health services. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews of professionals employed in these services. A qualitative method with a phenomenological approach was applied to analyse the data. The results indicate that professionals have underlying conceptions. They considered that when parents force food on their child, this is a violation of the child’s integrity. This view is based on the idea that such actions restrict the child’s right to self-determination. In the participants’ opinions, when the child is forced to sleep well, this is not regarded as a violation of the child’s integrity, but is perceived as support of the child’s autonomy. An underlying theoretical view may be that parents’ time can be saved if the child becomes independent of the parents at as early an age as possible.

Children’s illness has been investigated through the eyes of parents and nurses but the child’s own perspective has been largely ignored. The aim of this study is to illuminate the 7-10-year-olds’ experiences of being ill. Three girls and four boys were interviewed and narrated their experience about short-term illness. The data obtained was subjected to a thematic qualitative content analysis. The analysis suggests that the children combined reality and imagination and contrasts seemed to coexist such as being scared/confident, sad/cosy and hurt/having fun. They felt caught and tried to escape. The experience of illness as narrated by children can lead to a richer understanding and influence the way we care for paediatric patients.