NEW YORK NURSE: April 2010

Ask the experts

Working with foster care children

by Toni Heer, MS, RN, University Health Care Center, Department of Pediatrics, Syracuse, New York

Q.: As a pediatric nurse, how can I best meet the special needs of foster care children in my practice?

A.: Children in foster care experience higher rates of physical and emotional problems than those in the general population; the pervasive effects of abuse and/or neglect require comprehensive healthcare services to identify needs, initiate care and provide appropriate individualized, consistent plans of care. A model of care proposed by Pender, Murdaugh, and Parsons (2006) offers a framework for meeting the needs of these children. Some points to
consider when applying this model in practice include:

Support for interrelationships of human functioning. This includes assisting families to address domestic violence and maintaining child safety; teaching parents positive parenting skills, good communication skills and appropriate discipline.
Understanding the social context in which individuals live and work. In some environments, interpersonal dynamics and living situations may not fulfill the physical and emotional needs of a child.
Social support is a basic human need. In the pediatric context, social support is considered to be a person-environment interaction that decreases the occurrence of stressors, buffers the impact of stress and decreases the physiologic reactivity to stress. Interventions may be necessary to prevent the maltreatment of children, improve family functioning, provide children with the opportunity to express themselves, learn, and have positive experiences so they can grow and develop to their fullest potential.

As nurses, we must consider the child, as well as the family, in a holistic manner – in our planning. This means we must use our entire professional and community-based resources to establish the following comprehensive holistic child-focused interventions: promote life skills training and courses for children and parents; integrate medical services with family support services, and judicial commissions; and align with committed business to promote funding for prevention of child neglect and abuse.

References

Pender, N.J., Murdaugh, C.L., & Parsons, M.A. (2006). Health promotion in nursing practice (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

This is a sample of the questions NYSNA’s experts answer each day. The advice given is specific for the situation described and may not be applicable generally. If you have questions about your own work setting, it is recommended that you contact your NYSNA Nursing Representative or the Education, Practice, and Research Program, 11 Cornell Road, Latham, New York 12110-1499 or call 800-724-NYRN, ext. 282.