Children's Nursing Case Book

Part I - Promoting health

CASE 1 A 5 year old girl who is clinically obese

CASE 2 A 7 year old boy who appears to be neglected

CASE 3 A 14 year old girl admitted to hospital after trying alcohol

PART 2 - Acutely ill children

CASE 1 An infant with pyrexia and febrile convulsions resulting from an unknown infection

CASE 2 Emergency admission with brittle asthma

CASE 3 Emergency surgery for appendicitis

PART 3 - Critically ill child

CASE 1 Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) in a neonate

CASE 2 A two year old toddler who has sustained a head injury

CASE 3 A child with a suspected diagnosis of typhoid fever following recent foreign travel

CASE 4 Planned elective surgery for congenital spinal disorder: post-surgical care

PART 4 - Trauma

CASE 1 Car accident, mother killed

CASE 2 An 11 year old child with learning disability who steps into scalding bath water and partly submerges his feet, lower legs and buttocks

CASE 3 Knife assault

PART 5 - Long-term conditions

CASE 1 Neonatal Prematurity

CASE 2 A child with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes mellitus who is in transition from primary to secondary school

CASE 3 A baby with short gut, referred to tertiary services following presentation with failure to thrive

CASE 4 A teenager with chronic renal disease awaiting transfer from paediatric services to adult services

PART 6 - Emotional and mental health

CASE 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder

CASE 2 A teenage girl with anorexia

CASE 3 Sickle Cell Disease

PART 7 - Life-limiting conditions and palliative care

CASE 1 Deterioration of mobility in a boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

CASE 2 Osteosarcoma in a teenager who develops secondaries

CASE 3 Transition to adult services: Cystic Fibrosis

Nursing children and young people is increasingly complex requiring nurses to apply their knowledge and skills to a wide scope of illnesses and situations. The challenges to nurses to analyse, reflect on different perspectives and then adapt practices to the benefit of service users are reflected in this book.

Each scenario in this text is created based on real life cases and practice. The 23 cases connect knowledge with practice and guide you through the anatomy and physiology and the physical and psychological responses to stressors, which are then linked to intervention decisions. Cases include:

• Providing care for children and young people with life-limiting conditions
• Acutely ill children including those with asthma, and an infant with pyrexia and febrile convulsions
• Long term conditions including diabetes, renal disease and the transfer to adult services
• Those who are critically ill such as a child with typhoid fever and a toddler with a head injury
• Supporting emotional and mental health in anorexia and autistic spectrum disorder
• Promoting healthy lifestyles, considering obesity and risky behaviour
• Care for children with trauma, including a child with a learning disability

Remaining vigilant for indicators of safeguarding concern, encouraging self-care, and promoting mental resilience are all incorporated, with examples from a range of care environments. Calculation exercises are interspersed to keep these skills sharp.

This Case Book is an ideal learning resource, tailored to help nurses learn in a focused way about practice and excel, whether on placements, in academic work, or in professional practice.

"Developed from a partnership between a University Research Group and an NHS Trust, this practical children’s nursing case textbook bridges theory and practice by presenting 23 case scenarios on complex, sensitive and difficult to manage clinical situations in an accessible and user-friendly manner. The inbuilt activities, calculation exercises, question and answer format and extra resources make this an excellent interactive resource for nurses to engage in critical thinking and reflection about each case."
Dr. Veronica Lambert, Senior Lecturer Children's Nursing, Dublin City University, Ireland

"This book will be useful for nurses in the UK who work with children and families in a variety of settings. Its format based on case studies and 'what would you do' and 'what do you need to do' scenarios will make it a useful tool for teaching clinical care for children and families."
Professor Linda Shields, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia

"What Tony Long has achieved is to produce a textbook with contributions from esteemed practicing children’s nurses which gives enhanced credibility to each of the case studies. Tony and his colleagues have created these case studies to help children’s and young people’s nurses fully understand the complexities of the needs of both children and their families or carers during their healthcare trajectory. This new book crucially never forgets the primary mission of the children’s nurse which is to uphold their mantra of  'the child first and always'."

Alan Glasper, Emeritus Professor of children’s and young people’s nursing at the University of Southampton, UK