Description
Childhood accidents and their consequences (unintentional injuries) are currently a serious public health problem due to the high death and injury rates associated to them. In the modern era, we witness the construction by society of an environment that is ever-more unsuitable to the specific needs and vulnerability of the younger members of society, resulting in the death and disability in incidents regarded as accidental but recognised as preventable. The recognition of this preventability is the basis for their prevention, which is considered today to be the most effective way to resolve the occurrence of accidents and their consequences and is therefore a priority in healthcare. However, a lack of awareness of the problem by parents, children and society in general, including healthcare professionals, allied with a lack of knowledge of safety measures to be adopted in preventing childhood accidents, seem to be the cause for the lack of effectiveness on reducing accident numbers in Portugal. An expert in the conception and management of child and family care, with a deep understanding of this dual issue, the Specialist Nurse in Child Health and Paediatrics has a central role in changing mindsets, attitudes and consequently, behaviours, not only of the child and family but also other healthcare professionals at a wide level of different contexts. It is therefore, an overarching objective of this project to contribute to the promotion of Child Safety at the level of all the different contexts of intervention, within the scope of the duties delegated to the Specialist Nurse in Child Health and Paediatrics. Using a descriptive and reflexive methodology, this report shows the action plans developed in each context, community, in-patient ward and casualty department, in order to answer the specific needs of each segment of the population and respecting the three levels of prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary. Using this same critical analysis, the duties inherent to the role of Specialist Nurse in Child Health are analysed and other existing ones are perfected. From the results obtained from this learning process, it is important to highlight the changes in risk behaviour adopted by family care providers and nursing professionals in the context of childcare dependent on them, thus reflecting a change in attitudes in relation to the problem of child accidents. As a consequence of this process, the integration of different knowledge in the development of specialised practices in the complex art of childcare is especially noteworthy.| Period | Mar 2010 |
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| Held at | Universidade Católica Portuguesa |
| Degree of Recognition | Master |