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The nursing assessment of infants with bronchiolitis
Clare Davies1, Donna Waters1, Andrea Marshall2
11 Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney, 88, Mallett Street, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
Insights
Nurses employ multifaceted strategies when assessing infants with bronchiolitis. A strong partnership with mothers is crucial, as their insights provide essential information for holistic infant care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Nursing
- Respiratory Medicine
Background:
- Bronchiolitis is a primary cause of infant hospitalization.
- Nursing assessment is vital for bronchiolitis care but poorly understood.
- Current literature lacks detail on nurses' assessment strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore nursing assessment strategies for infants with bronchiolitis.
- To understand the holistic nature of nursing assessments in practice.
Main Methods:
- Naturalistic inquiry design.
- Think aloud and retrospective probing data collection.
- Qualitative analysis of nursing assessment processes.
Main Results:
- Nurses gather varied information using multifaceted and holistic approaches.
- A collaborative partnership between nurses and mothers is essential.
- Mothers' expertise in identifying subtle infant changes is critical.
Conclusions:
- Nursing assessment of bronchiolitis is complex and holistic.
- Family-centered partnerships enhance the comprehensiveness of infant assessments.
- Excluding family input risks losing vital clinical information.
Abstract:
Bronchiolitis is the leading cause of morbidity and hospitalization in infants under the age of one year. Supportive treatments and regular assessment remain the mainstay of care for infants admitted to hospital. Nurses play an important role in the assessment of infants with bronchiolitis; however, this is not well described in the literature and consequently little is known about what strategies nurses employ in assessing infants with bronchiolitis. The aim of this study was to explore bronchiolitis assessment in the context of nursing practice. A naturalistic inquiry study was undertaken using think aloud and retrospective probing data collection methods. The results revealed that the information gathered by nurses in their assessment of infants with bronchiolitis was varied and the process of acquiring and evaluating this information was multifaceted and holistic in nature. A close partnership between the nurse and mother was identified, and the mother's expert knowledge and ability to identify subtle changes in the infant's clinical condition over time was essential to the assessment process. The assessment partnership with families provides nurses with the most comprehensive and holistic view of the infant's clinical condition and vital assessment information could be lost if this partnership does not occur.
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