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Nursing care of children in general practice settings: roles and responsibilities
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Nursing care of children in general practice settings: roles and responsibilities

Anne Walsh, Margaret Barnes and Amy E Mitchell
Journal of Advanced Nursing, Vol.71(11), pp.2585-2594
2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12735
url
https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12735View
Published Version

Abstract

child health nurses nurses' professional role nursing primary health care professional development
Aims: To examine roles and responsibilities of Practice Nurses in the area of child health and development and in advising parents about child health issues. Background: As the focus of Australia's health care system shifts further towards the primary health care sector, governmental initiatives require that Practice Nurses are knowledgeable, confident and competent in providing care in the area of child health and development. Little is known about roles and responsibilities of Practice Nurses in this area. Design Cross-sectional survey design. Methods Practice Nurses completed a national online survey examining the roles and responsibilities in child health and development, professional development needs and role satisfaction. Data were collected from June 2010-April 2011. Results Respondents (N = 159) reported having a significant role in well and sick child care and were interested in extending their role. Frequent activities included immunization, phone triage/advice, child health/development advice, wound care and Healthy Kids Checks. However, few had paediatric/child nursing backgrounds or postgraduate qualifications in paediatric nursing and they reported limited preparation for the role. Practice Nurses reported difficulties with keeping up-to-date with child health information and advising parents confidently. Satisfaction was relatively low regarding opportunities and encouragement to undertake professional development and expand scope of practice. Conclusion Practice Nurses are largely unprepared to meet the demands of their child health role and need support to develop and maintain the skills and knowledge base necessary for high-quality, evidence-based practice. Both financial and time support is needed to enable Practice Nurses to access child health professional development.

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