O enfermeiro especialista em enfermagem de saúde infantil e pediátrica na humanização dos cuidados e na capacitação parental

Abstract

The commitment to professional training and the search for knowledge must remain a constant concern in nurses' careers, as this investment is the right way to achieve primacy in the care provided. In the area of Child and Pediatric Health, in addition to this search, it is also essential to work in partnership with the parents of the child. Only by working together we will provide excellent care. Through the preparation of this final report, I pretend to reflect my entire academic career, opportunities and experiences during the Final Internship and Report curricular unit, which refers to three distinct periods of clinical practice, based on the theme of Paediatric Home Hospitalization (PHH). Hospitalization is one of the first crises experienced by the child and it is a factor that generates fear, stress and anxiety for both the parents and the child. The transition from a familiar environment to a totally unfamiliar one is potentially traumatic, so there is an irrevocable need to look for effective alternatives to keep the child safely close to his or her family in a more comfortable environment, preventing possible trauma. With this in mind, the need arose to investigate and deepen our knowledge of an innovative alternative that has been developed and applied in several countries, but is still very little known in others: PHH. Its emergence promotes the implementation of more humanized health care through the adoption of a holistic, ethical and culturally sensitive vision of the child, taking into account all the aspects that influence them, so that care is provided at home. Telemedicine subsequently emerged as an important complement and added value to this model. This experience proved to be extremely enriching, and I embraced every opportunity that came up during each internship, particularly in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Pediatric Outpatient Department and the Pediatric Surgery ward. I developed technical, scientific, relational and ethical skills, but above all I developed the common skills of a specialist nurse and the specific skills of a specialist nurse in child and pediatric health nursing. Through the preparation of a systematic literature review of qualitative studies, it was also possible to acquire master's skills. Through all this work, it became possible to develop differentiated and more specialized care. During the internship, I outlined a general objective that cut across all fields. In the various internship contexts, I implemented activities according to the needs of each service with the aim of promoting parental training, promoting the safe early discharge of children and disseminating the PHH. After implementing each activity, I drew up a questionnaire to assess its effectiveness. With regard to the different presentations inherent to the PHH, the feedback obtained by the teams was generally very positive and everyone believes in the true potential of this model. From this point of view, I reiterate that continuous training in the health sector is essential for achieving the primacy of care and for incorporating evidence into professional practice in order to implement more humanized care.

Date of Award	2 Jul 2024
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Sílvia da Encarnação de Barros Ramos (Supervisor)