A intervenção do enfermeiro especialista na promoção do desenvolvimento do lactente hospitalizado

Abstract

The following report was written within the Curricular Unit “Estágio Final e Relatório” during the Nursing Master’s Degree Course in Child and Pediatric Health Nursing at the Institute of Health Science of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and it’s goal is to describe the path taken towards developing the skills of the Master’s and Specialist’s Nursing Degree in Child and Pediatric Health. The theme deepened throughout this journey was the development promotion of the hospitalized infant because during the first year of the child’s life there’s a rapid physical growth, system maturation and development of gross and fine motor skills, social and cognitive development as well as neuroplasticity, making the infant susceptible to stimuli from the surrounding environment. Hence the main aim of this learning course is raising awareness among nurses and infant’s parents, empowering them to be able to promote healthy infant development in the hospital setting. This setting constitutes a poor environment in healthy stimuli but is full of potentially harming stimuli for the infant, making it important to act towards preventing damage and at the same time promoting the healthy development of the infant. This curricular unit consisted on one internship divided in 3 different contexts – pediatric ward, neonatal unit and pediatric emergency room. For each of the contexts was developed a project through a situational diagnosis, followed by goal establishment and the planning of activities that would allow to achieve the goals and develop the common Nurse Specialist skills, the specific Pediatric Nurse Specialist Skills and the Master’s skills. A scoping review was carried out on the theme of the development promotion of the hospitalized infant and the Partnership in Care Model of Anne Casey was the theoretical support for the implemented activities and the provided care. It’s highlighted in the Pediatric Nurse Specialist intervention the ability to recognize the infant and family’s vulnerability, adapting the intervention as to promote adequate development, implementing strategies to minimize harmful stimuli that can have an impact on short and long term, maximizing the health and welfare of the infant and safeguarding his future.

Date of Award	15 Feb 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Margarida Maria Sousa Lourenço Quitério (Supervisor)