Introducing the children’s emergency care reference group
Published: 18 August 2011
A new reference group is set to raise awareness of issues relating to children in emergency care.
Nurses who have worked in emergency care settings over the past few years have seen many changes and challenges. We have had new clinical challenges; door to thrombolysis times have changed to PCI times, and we are now looking to thrombolysis for patients who have suffered stroke. Sepsis bundles have been introduced and more respiratory patients receive non-invasive ventilation.
We have had managerial challenges; four-hour standards and more recently quality indicators to measure and improve performance.
Yet some things about emergency care remain constant: the whereabouts of the keys is a mystery! Alcohol intoxication causes challenges most weekends, either acutely on a Friday/Saturday night or results in injury management on Saturday/Sunday morning. Nationally, 3.5 million children attend Emergency Departments each year, while newly qualified (and not so newly qualified) adult trained nurses are terrified of caring for them.
Specific sets of skills
The ECA recognises that caring for children in emergency settings requires a specific set of skills and knowledge that isn’t just acquired by observation alone. Specific training and competency development is essential if children’s emergency treatment and care is to be delivered safely and appropriately.Caring for children also requires specific equipment and a modified child and family-friendly environment.
In order to ensure the needs of children and their families are not forgotten in the strategic planning and development of emergency nursing, the ECA has requested the development of a paediatric reference group where they can seek guidance on issues relating to children and young people.
An electronic alliance
This reference group does not replace the Paediatric Emergency Care Group which was a formal sub-group of the ECA and had its own committee and conference.
Instead, the reference group is an electronic alliance of experienced emergency care nurses with specific expertise in caring for children and their families. The purpose of the group is to raise awareness of issues relating to children in emergency care settings and provide advice to the ECA in relation to consultation on documents and strategic planning. The reference groups also hopes to co-ordinate specific activities relating to the emergency care of children at the ECA annual conference and raise awareness of issues in relevant publications.
Currently the group comprises:
Janet Youd
Nurse Consultant Emergency Care, Calderdale and Huddersfield.
Special interests: advanced paediatric nurse practitioner development and patient experience.
Amy Dopson
Child Health Tutor/Child Branch Leader (Surrey University). Works clinically as an advanced paediatric nurse practitioner.
Special interests: safeguarding children, advanced paediatric life support, paediatric minor illness and injury.
Dr Pippa Hemingway
Lecturer in Nursing Children and Young People, University of Nottingham and link tutor for Children’s Emergency Department, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham.
Special interests: research in children's and young people's emergency and urgent care. Core research focuses on parental perspectives on emergency and urgent care attendance for common childhood illnesses.
Lorrie Lawton
Paediatric Emergency Nurse Consultant, Paediatric Emergency Dept, the Whittington NHS Trust, London.
Special interests: nurse practitioner development and practice, head injuries in children, pre-hospital care and flight/military nursing.
Petra Valk-Zwickl
Paediatric nurse at the Emergency department Children’s Hospital , Zurich, Switzerland,
Clinical nurse educator, ATS (Australasian Triage Scale) instructor, board member Swiss emergency interest group, EuSEN Inaugural meeting member.
Special interests: implementation of ATS in Switzerland
Plus Judith Jabore, Andrew Jones and Bridget Conway.
This is not an exclusive group and we recognise there are many more experienced paediatric emergency nurses around. If anyone wants to get actively involved with this group please email either janet.youd@cht.nhs.uk or james.bethel@wlv.ac.uk