Fatigue in the acute care and ambulatory setting

Area of Science:

• Pediatric nursing
• Symptom assessment
• Patient distress

Background:

• Nurses frequently assess patient symptoms and distress, but fatigue in children is rarely explored.
• Existing literature indicates pediatric fatigue is often unrecognized and untreated, particularly in children facing stressful events like illness or hospitalization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of fatigue in pediatric patients within inpatient and outpatient settings.
• To gather data on fatigue symptom experience in a tertiary care children's hospital environment.
• To inform nursing practice and guide future research on pediatric fatigue.

Main Methods:

• A program-specific point prevalence survey was conducted.
• Data collection occurred across nine inpatient and 11 outpatient units at a university-affiliated tertiary care children's hospital.
• The survey assessed fatigue levels in pediatric patients.

Main Results:

• The surveyed pediatric sample reported higher overall fatigue scores compared to published data from healthy and chronically ill children.
• Sub-scores also indicated elevated fatigue levels in the study population.
• This suggests a significant presence of fatigue in both inpatient and ambulatory pediatric care settings.

Conclusions:

• Pediatric fatigue is a prevalent symptom in hospital settings that requires greater attention.
• Findings underscore the need for improved nursing assessment and intervention strategies for fatigue in children.
• Further research is warranted to understand and address pediatric fatigue effectively.