CTR-PD0080 - Parents of Hospitalized ChildrenThe Joint Commission has mandated age-related competencies ensure that staff be able to provide care for patients no matter what their stage of development even when pediatrics may not be the nurses's primary area of practice. Therefore, all nurses should understand the physical as well as psychosocial requirements of children and try to make the healthcare experience as positive as possible for them. Because this can take so much energy, concentration, and time, the parent's needs are sometimes overlooked. The are numerous factors which can cause stress to the family: having an ill or injured child, trying to understanding what is being done to the youngster and the rationale for it, what the diagnostic tests will discover, leaving their other children at home, and finances. All these things contribute to the parent's unease. In addition, the role as mother or father is often usurped by the staff because the nurses and physicians are at the bedside providing care. The result is that the family feels anger, frustration, grief, helpless, and inadequate. While these emotions may be normal, they must be tempered before they escalate into barriers preventing the family from working side by side with the staff to help the child through the ordeal. It is up to the healthcare professional to assess the needs of the family members, evaluate their coping skills, determine their level of understanding of the child's diagnosis and treatment, and then begin an open, honest dialogue about how the staff and parents can work together to achieve the best possible outcome for all concerned. | 
