Nursing and Patient Care

Nurses are important members of your child’s care team. Patient care tasks that your child’s nurse may perform include:

• Checking vital signs
• Performing assessments and exams
• Drawing blood or getting other samples for lab tests
• Giving blood products or fluids
• Preparing patients for treatments, procedures, or surgery
• Giving chemotherapy and other medicines
• Helping with daily needs and hygiene care
• Overseeing care plans and schedules

Nurses also provide education and instructions for care. They help families understand:

• Diagnosis and disease information
• Medicines and treatment plans
• Medical devices and care instructions
• Managing symptoms and side effects
• How to care for your child at home
• When and who to call for different care needs

Nursing teams and shifts

Your child may have many nurses during their care and treatment. The number of nurses and the type of care they provide depend on your child’s medical needs including:

• Whether your child recently had a surgery or medical procedure
• What treatments or medicines your child needs
• How recent the diagnosis is
• How advanced the disease is

Nurses usually work 8–12 hours at a time. These are called shifts. When one nurse’s shift ends, another nurse’s shift begins. This time is called a shift change.

During a shift change, nurses will discuss your child’s care. This helps make sure your child gets the care they need without any interruptions.

Nurses often take care of several patients during a shift. But some patients need more care than others. Patients with more serious health problems may have a nurse who works only with them. This usually happens in the intensive care unit (ICU). Patients in the ICU are very sick. They may be on special machines such as a ventilator or need medicines that must be watched closely.

Types of nurses

Your child’s care team will include several types of nurses who serve in different roles. Some types of nurses receive more specialized training based on their specific role. This allows teams to provide complex and multifaceted services.

Understanding the roles and functions of different types of nurses may help you better understand and manage your child’s care.

Registered nurse (RN): provides a wide variety of nursing care. They monitor patients, perform assessments, give medicines, oversee daily needs, and educate patients and families about diagnosis and treatment.

Nurse practitioner (NP): advanced practice provider works closely with the physician to plan care, perform physical exams, give tests, and prescribe treatments

Licensed practical nurse (LPN): provides daily care activities and skilled nursing tasks for patients at the bedside or in clinics where treatments take place; also known as a licensed vocational nurse (LVN)

Nursing assistant: works under the supervision of an RN or LPN to provide basic daily care functions

Nurse supervisor or nurse manager: oversees nursing teams, conducts training, manages administrative tasks, and ensures quality of care for patients

Nurse case manager or care coordinator: coordinates longer-term care for patients to help manage complex medical needs

Pediatric hematology/oncology nurse: provides specialized nursing care to children and teens with cancer or blood disorders, performs assessments, gives chemotherapy and other medicines, monitors for side effects, and educates patients and families about diagnosis and treatment

Oncology clinical nurse specialist (OCNS): serves as a clinical expert and consultant for the nursing staff on complex patient issues and focuses on improving efficiency and access to care; also known as advanced practice nurses (APNs) who are certified in oncology

Pre-op nurse: provides care and prepares patients for surgery and other procedures

Nurse anesthetist (CRNA): prepares patients for anesthesia, gives anesthesia or sedation medicines during surgery or other procedures, and monitors patients during procedures

Operating room (OR) nurse: cares for patients during surgery alongside other surgical team members

Post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) nurse: works with patients after surgery as they recover from anesthesia; also known as recovery room nurse

Emergency room (ER) nurse: treats patients in a hospital emergency room (ER) and provides care for conditions due to illness, trauma, or injury

Intensive care unit (ICU) nurse: works in the intensive care unit (ICU) and provides complex care to patients with serious medical conditions. Many ICU nurses work with patients in a certain age bracket, such as children in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) or neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Home care nurse: offers home-based care to patients and may specialize in different aspects of care such as children with developmental or mobility issues

Communicating with the nursing team

Open communication is important to ensure the best care possible for your child. Here are some tips for communicating with your nursing team.

Write down information about your child’s nurses.

Information you may want to keep track of includes:

• The name of your child’s nurses
• The type of care they give or specialty area they work
• Which shift they work
• How often and what time they usually check on your child
• How and when to contact them

Ask questions and voice concerns.

When it comes to medical care, no question or concern is too big or too small. Nurses are experts on medical care, people, and places within their hospitals or clinics. Nurses are trained to help patients and families understand information. Be open and honest so that you can work together to ensure the best possible care for your child.

Keep a running list of questions and take notes.

Write down questions as you think of them. This will help you remember any important questions you have. Making a list also allows you to get all your questions answered at once. Writing down the answers to your questions will also help you to remember information later.

Actively listen and seek information.

Caring for your child can be overwhelming. Your nursing team may give you many details about your child’s care. It can be hard to understand or remember everything they say. To help communication:

• Let your nursing team know how you like to get information.
• Try to limit distractions.
• Repeat information back to make sure that you understand what was communicated.
• If you don’t understand, ask your nurse to explain things in a different way.
• Ask for additional resources or information that you can refer to later.

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