Knowledge and practice on the nursing care for hospitalized child

Abstract

The study approaches the practice and knowledge of a nurse in charge of a hospitalized child from the caretaker's point of view, revealing the historical course and the influence of the theoretical and philosophical referential of these professional duties. It is an exploratory research with qualitative approach carried out in the Pediatrics Internment Units of the Pediatrics Nursing Service of a University Hospital in the city of Porto Alegre-RS. Thirteen nurses took part in the study. Data was collected using the semi-structured interview proposed by Trivinos (1987) and the free observation described by the same author. For analysis and interpretation of these pieces of information, the thematic-type content analysis presented by Bardin (1977) was used. The study enhances the relevance of a philosophical referential structuring the caretaking process of a hospitalized child and family, the presence of the family in the ambient of caring and the warmth of the caretaker, trying to know the families, their needs and limitations, and establishing bonds in order to minimize the stress of the illness and the hospitalization of the child.