In this course, I learned about the importance of viewing the patient from a holistic perspective. Even though I will be working with the pediatric population, I can still apply some of the concepts I learned in this class to my future nursing practice. The first concept that we learned about that I can apply to the pediatric nursing is the ideas of spiritualty and legal practices. When it comes to religion and spirituality, this can play a big role on patient and family expectations of care. A family’s belief system can impact decisions of medications, use of animal products in the body, the gender of their provider, and diet modifications. For the pediatric population, a family’s belief system can prevent them from receiving blood products that could be life saving for the child. The role of advocacy in nursing will come into play for this situation, and it will be the nurse’s responsibility to obtain the appropriate legal document to assure the child can receive the necessary life-saving care.
Some other concepts that were reiterated in this course that I will apply to my future nursing practice includes the ethical principles. When it comes to the pediatric population, confidentiality can be a substantial issue, especially in teenagers. It is important for the nurse to understand the HIPPA laws regarding confidentiality to be able to establish rapport with the patient and maintain fidelity. The nurse must find a way to assure that the patient maintains autonomy, while being able to incorporate the parents or guardians in their care. Some other ethical principles to incorporate into patient care includes beneficence and non-maleficence. The nurse must assure that they are doing their best to provide good care and prevent and harm from happening to them.
