Introduction

The revised NCLEX-RN Test Plan includes content that has been covered in this unit, but often raises concern in candidates. This section assists NCLEX candidates to think about this content in terms of the current test plan, in a concrete and specific manner through the clinical examples given.

Management of Care of Infants, Children, and Adolescents

The role of the pediatric nurse in management of care includes the following:

1. Serving as an advocate for the child and family, such as informing child and family of all treatments and procedures.
2. Coordinating clinical case management to provide access to high-quality clinical resources appropriate to the level of care needed, such as referring child to acute rehabilitation facility following open heart surgery.
3. Coordinating continuity of care across the health care delivery continuum, such as discussing needs of child and family with home care nurse before child’s discharge in a spica cast.
4. Delegating care to and supervising care among various members of the health care delivery team, such as assigning a float nurse to care for selected patients on the pediatrics unit.
5. Completing incident/irregular occurrence/variance reports as needed, including filing, monitoring, and analyzing reports of drug reactions to a new medication.
6. Working toward continuous quality improvement, such as studying incident reports of accidents on the pediatrics unit to determine what changes in practice are needed to increase patient safety.
7. Suggesting organ donation to selected families when appropriate - for example, asking the family whose 16-yearold has been declared brain dead about the possibility of organ donation.
8. Collaborating with other members of the health care team in consultation and referrals, such as requesting a psychiatric consultation for a child who is depressed.
9. Coordinating resource management, such as reminding the UAP to stamp all equipment charge forms used for each child.

Safety and Infection Control for Infants, Children, and Adolescents

The role of the pediatric nurse in safety and infection control includes the following:

1. Engaging in disaster planning activities - for example, the nurse reads and thoroughly reviews the disaster plan for the health care facility in which the nurse is practicing.
2. Engaging in activities designed to prevent errors, such as identifying pediatric patients only by their name bands or by a reliable adult who knows the child.
3. Handling hazardous and infectious materials appropriately - for example, always disposing of contaminated waste in a clearly marked biohazard container.
4. Using medical and surgical asepsis, such as using sterile gloves and technique when changing a surgical incision dressing.