Relatório de estágio

Abstract

Child Development begins inside the mother’s womb and it involves multiple achievements, such as physical growth, neurological maturation and the improvement of behavioral, cognitive, social and emotional skills. Due to its complexity and depth, Child Development is a very important theme in pediatrics nursing, especially when dealing with infants, for it is at this stage that the child presents the highest degree of plasticity and resilience when responding to stimuli that might influence her development. This report´s main goal is to describe the experiences that took place during this Internship´s Curricular Unit, and share the critical reflections I made about it. The events in this report start within the community, where the promotion of child development is essentially based on previous healthcare procedures. Later, my study was conducted in Santa Maria Hospital, in Neonatal Intensive Care and in Pediatric Surgery Units. These are the medical fields where the promotion of child development is more challenging for, most of the time, medical intervention is more focused on pathology rather than on enhancing child development. Along this study, there were many opportunities to develop skills on child/family care in various contexts: care management and communication. My intervention was supported by Brazelton’s “Touchpoints” Model. This Model was presented to parents and nurses, during training courses that valued this approach to evaluate and promote child development. All involved shared experiences and doubts, which contributed gain knowledge and develop skills in this area. Using a descriptive, analytical and reflexive methodology, this report presents a chain of events that took place during a period of an Internship´s Curricular Unit dedicated to Child Development Enhancement. In partnership with the family, it is fundamental that the NSPIH use this methodology to help the child to develop according to the patterns expected for her age.

Date of Award	2014
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Elisabete Nunes (Supervisor)