What do you think is important in providing care to children?
It’s very important to remember that children are individuals - every child has different needs and understands things differently.
My role is to ensure each child receives a high standard of nursing care according to these needs.
Young children often may not understand why they are having surgery so it is important to explain this through distraction techniques to gain trust.
Communication which is age appropriate is vital to gain trust and to help the child understand what is going to happen.
The key essence is to involve the whole family and provide family centred care. If parents are anxious, the child recognises this and it can impact how the child feels.
How do you care for the whole family?
We base our nursing assessment and nursing care around the family.
Families are encouraged to be part of their child’s care and contribute to the plan of care.
Families know their child better than we do so we need them involved to tell us when their child is in pain, what they are feeling.
We also ensure the family are happy and help ease their anxieties by encouraging questions and we often turn things into a game such as when the child is going to theatre, we will dress Mum up as a banana or a Minion.
We refer to pastoral care as required but most importantly we spend time with the family.
I answer their questions and offer a face-to-face chat prior to admission and a look around the ward if this helps makes the process easier.
Every family has different needs and we adapt to the family.
What are you most interested in at work?
Improving patient care.
I want every child and family who walks into my ward to feel as though they are a member of our paediatric ward family.
I love completing discharge phone calls and hearing firsthand what the family experienced.
This has led to the development of a pain management leaflet and recently I have devised a booklet to talk and show through pictures what the child and family will see and what to expect on admission.
Every day is different and every day I get to work with amazing children and families and feel so privilege to be part of their care.
I work with fantastic caregivers who are all dedicated to providing the highest level of nursing care for children and families
Do you love children?
Yes. Children are fantastic for saying things as they are and bringing a smile.
I love watching children play and hearing the giggles on the ward. It brightens my day, every day.
Wendy is pictured with her team second on the right.
