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Paediatric home nursing scheme in Gateshead
Insights
A specialized home nursing scheme for sick children in Gateshead provided an alternative to hospital admission. Most mothers favored this pediatric home care, especially for young children from working-class families.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Community Health Services
- Home Healthcare
Background:
- Established in Gateshead in 1974, a specialized nursing care scheme aimed to provide pediatric care within children's homes.
- The initiative sought to offer an alternative to traditional hospital admission for acutely ill children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the implementation and initial reception of a home-based specialized nursing care program for sick children.
- To assess the feasibility of retraining district nurses for advanced pediatric home care.
Main Methods:
- Selected district nurses received specialized training in a pediatric unit.
- Nurses provided home care for 22 children referred by general practitioners and 39 discharged from the hospital.
- The study focused on children aged 3 years or younger, primarily from working-class backgrounds.
Main Results:
- The scheme successfully provided specialized nursing care to children in their homes.
- A significant number of children, referred by both general practitioners and hospitals, received this service.
- The majority of mothers surveyed expressed positive opinions regarding the home care scheme.
Conclusions:
- The specialized pediatric home nursing scheme offered a viable alternative to hospitalization.
- The program demonstrated potential for effective community-based care for young, sick children.
- Maternal satisfaction suggests a positive reception and potential for wider adoption of such services.
Abstract:
A scheme to provide specialised nursing care for sick children in their own homes was begun in Gateshead in 1974. Selected district nurses were retrained in the paediatric unit on which the scheme was based and nursed at home 22 children referred to them by general practitioners as the alternative to hospital admission and 39 discharged to their care by the hospital. Most of the children were aged 3 years or less and came from working-class homes. Most of the mothers who were asked were in favour of the scheme.