Building the future: children's views on nurses and hospital care

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Abstract
Healthcare policies such as standard 7 of the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services and the new NMC standards for pre-registration nursing programmes emphasise the need for universities and their partner trusts to engage with patients and the public in developing both nurse training courses and services. This article describes a two-arm study into the views and experiences of children with regard to hospitals. Conducted as part of an ongoing commitment to the reconfiguration of children’s services and the development of a new undergraduate children’s nursing programme, the study collected data from 61 children in two children’s hospitals in the south of England and from eight members of a city youth parliament. Aims: The study sought to involve child users in service planning through two objectives: 1) to ascertain the views of children and young people on what skills, knowledge and attitudes, children’s nurses of the future will need to care for sick children and their families; and 2) to seek the views of young people on what children think about before being admitted to hospital, and subsequently as inpatients. Method: The study used a draw and write/tell technique. The main outcome measures were description and analysis of those attributes which children believe nurses of the future should possess, and of those factors which inhibit or enhance childhood hospital admission. Results: A number of themes emerged from analysis of the data: notably that children’s nurses of the future should be skilled in both verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as having fundamental clinical skills. Issues relating to children about to be admitted to hospital included being scared or worried, and fear of the unknown, while concerns after admission to hospital related to the care environment, social needs, and individual/ personal needs and requirements. Conclusions: This patient and public involvement study revealed a number areas that children and young people believe to be important for the future training of children’s nurses. Additionally, the factors which children consider inhibit or enhance the experience of hospital admission have been identified.

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