Introduction to Nursing Care of Children and Families
In this course students will be introduced to key concepts and practices foundational to nursing care of children and their families. Course learning will span the pediatric population from infancy through adolescence. The course is grounded in principles of child and family centered care and developmental theory, which are integrated across both classroom learning and clinical experiences.
Students will explore topics relevant to the pediatric population including sociocultural and institutional contexts of pediatric nursing in Canada, growth and development, impact of hospitalization, special needs, mental health, and palliative care. Additional topics include nursing management of common pediatric illnesses and conditions requiring hospitalization such as respiratory infections, fluid and electrolyte imbalances, shock, anemia, and seizures.
Throughout the course, students will apply and strengthen their critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgement skills using the nursing process and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing-Clinical Judgment Model (NCSBN-CJM). The CJM is integrated into classroom and clinical learning using unfolding clinical scenarios, case studies, assignments, in-person simulations and virtual simulations.
During clinical placement, students will have the opportunity to further apply their learning while actively caring for children and families in an acute or rehabilitative setting under the supervision and support of their clinical instructor. Students are expected to integrate current course content knowledge and understanding with foundational nursing and therapeutic skills acquired in the fall term.