Abstract

Nursing is known to be one of the most difficult professions there is, but also rewarding. Once a student graduates from nursing school, they are allowed to pick whatever hospital unit they desire to work. The pediatric unit is extremely fascinating because you work with children of all age ranges. The pediatric unit consists of working with children, all the way up until they reach the age of 18. Throughout this paper, the topic that will be discussed is Pediatric Nursing Challenges, which means that there are problems that need to be acknowledged, but also allow nurses within the unit to make a change. With that being said, throughout the senior project, an explanation of challenges within pediatric nursing and how to overcome them will be discussed. In order for the project to be successful, readers have to understand what nursing is and what it means to be a nurse. Nursing is not just difficult, but very complex because nurses wear more than one hat. Once readers understand the basics of nursing, there will be a deeper explanation of the topics in pediatric nursing. Additionally, readers must understand from everyone’s perspective, which includes the nurse, the patient, and the family; this will then lead to the explanation of the best type of nursing strategy that has been reported by nurses, patients, and the family across the world. The nurse must understand the patient, their family, and their job, but it is also important for the patient and the people around them to understand them as well. For example, although a nurse's job is to help the patient, people must understand that nurses are human as well. Sometimes they will experience burnout and other emotions while on the job and even outside of the job. Additionally, in the same way a nurse experiences those emotions, patients and their families experience those as well. With that being said, there must be a discussion about different coping mechanisms that have worked for patients, nurses, and even family members, so that nurses and future nurses can execute them the best way they know possible. Still, it is also important that the nurse serves as a resource to the patient and their family. Being a pediatric nurse is even more challenging because the family has to be involved more, depending on the child’s age, so the nurse has to be able to learn how to work with all parties involved. It is important that nurses know what they are doing when it comes to hands-on work when they are helping the patient, so that means they must know how to use the equipment that is given to them. Not only is it important to know how to use the equipment, but to make sure that the equipment is up to date, so nurses can help the patient recover as quickly as possible, because that is the main focus for the nurse. To conclude the project, there will be research conducted about how everything ties together, but also, as I said before, how nurses and future nurses can make a change when faced with these challenges. To conclude, the thesis statement that would best fit the project is “Specializing in nursing, especially in pediatrics, can be a challenge, but it is important that a nurse can help the child and family members overcome these obstacles, while additionally being able to help themselves stay strong and overcome these challenges with all parties involved.” In the end, readers, nurses, and future nurses should be able to understand how to overcome the challenges that lie within the healthcare system, but mainly in the pediatric unit.

Year Manuscript Completed

Fall 2025

Senior Project Advisor

Dr. George Michael Barton

Degree Awarded

Bachelor of Integrated Studies Degree

Field of Study

Human Services

Document Type

Thesis

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