Child Health Nurse (child + health_nurse)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Kinds of Child Health Nurse

  • and child health nurse
  • maternal and child health nurse


  • Selected Abstracts


    IDentify, Educate and Alert (IDEA) trial: an intervention to reduce postnatal depression

    BJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 9 2003
    Joan Webster
    Objective To test the effectiveness of a prenatal intervention in reducing the incidence of postnatal depression. Design A randomized controlled trial. Setting A large metropolitan obstetric hospital. Population or sample Pregnant women with risk factors for postnatal depression. Methods Women attending their first prenatal visit at the Royal Women's Hospital, Brisbane, were screened for risk factors for postnatal depression (IDentify). Positively screened women were randomly allocated to the intervention group or the control group. The intervention consisted of a booklet about postnatal depression, which included contact numbers; prenatal screening using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; a discussion with the woman about her risk of developing postnatal depression (Educate); and a letter to the woman's referring general practitioner and local Child Health Nurse, alerting them of the woman's risk for postnatal depression (Alert). Main outcome measure Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale Score> 12 at 16 weeks postpartum. Results Of the 509 women who were sent a follow up questionnaire, 371 (72.9%) responded. The proportion of women who reported an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score of>12 was 26%. There were no significant differences between intervention (46/192, 24%) and control groups (50/177, 28.2%) on this primary outcome measure (OR 0.80; 95% CI 0.50,1.28). Conclusion Over one-quarter of women with risk factors will develop postnatal depression. It is a treatable disorder but under-diagnosis is common. Efforts to reduce postnatal depression by implementing interventions in the prenatal period have been unsuccessful. [source]


    Expectations of the child health nurse in Sweden: two perspectives

    INTERNATIONAL NURSING REVIEW, Issue 2 2003
    A. Fägerskiöld MScN
    Abstract Background: the child health service exists to support and stimulate parents in order to reduce stress and to encourage an advantageous development of the preschool child. Aim: To explore and describe similarities and differences in expectations of the child health nurse, from the perspective of the recently delivered first-time mother, as compared to an expression of what the child health nurse believed mothers of infants expected of them. The data consisted of 15 interviews with child health nurses and 20 interviews with first-time mothers. Thematic content analysis resulted in seven categories of expectations. The child health nurse was expected to be someone to approach, who could assess the child's development and give immunizations and to be a supporter, counsellor, safety provider and a parent group organizer with knowledge. Similarities between the mothers' and the nurses' statements occurred more frequently than differences, which is suggested to depend on the Swedish tradition among new mothers of visiting the child health clinic. The mothers expected participation in parent groups to a higher degree than the nurses thought they did. Child health nurses who fulfil the mothers' expectations appear to require a good relationship with the mother in order to find out what she desires, which the allocation of sufficient time for regular meetings, will facilitate. Moreover, the nurse requires knowledge about children's requirements and the transition to motherhood as well as the father's important role. [source]


    Parents, infants and health care: Utilization of health services in the first 12 months of life

    JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 4 2003
    SR Goldfeld
    Objective: To describe patterns of health-service use in the first 12 months of life. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 173 first-born infants and their families living in two middle socio-economic urban areas of Melbourne were enrolled consecutively when presenting for their initial maternal and child health nurse (MCHN) visit (at approximately 4 weeks of age). Families kept a daily ,health diary' for the entire 12-month period, recording use of all health services for their infant, and reasons for the contact. Results: There was an 87% completion rate of diaries. The mean number of visits to any health service, including medical, hospitals, MCHN services, pharmacists, allied health services and naturopaths, was 35.7 (95% CI 34.7,36.6) during the 12 months. Of these, 31% (mean 10.9 visits) were visits to a general practitioner (GP) and 41.5% (mean 14.3 visits) were visits to the MCHN. Infants' visits to the MCHN were far more frequent in the first 6 months of life compared with the second 6 months (10.3 vs 3.6, P < 0.001). Rates of GP use were constant over the same periods (5.3 vs 5.7, P = 0.8). Conclusions: In a universal health-care system, this high rate of health-service use equates to approximately one visit to a health service every 2 weeks in the first year of life. The majority of these visits appeared unrelated to illness. This previously undocumented data has implications for future integrated service delivery, health-professional training and policy development for this age group. [source]


    The comparison of health status and health services utilisation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous infants in Australia

    AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 1 2010
    Lixin Ou
    Abstract Objective: To examine the differences in health services utilisation and the associated risk factors between Indigenous and non-Indigenous infants at a national level in Australia. Methods: We analysed data from a national representative longitudinal study, the Longitudinal Study for Australian Children (LSAC) starting in 2004. We used survey logistic regression and survey multiple linear regression to examine the factors associated with health services utilisation. Results: Health status of Indigenous infants was poorer than that of non-Indigenous. In comparison to non-Indigenous infants, in the previous 12-month period, the Indigenous infants were significantly less likely to use the following health services: maternal and child health centre or help lines (OR=0.35, 95%CI: 0.24-0.49); maternal and child health nurse visits (OR=0.45, 95%CI: 0.32-0.63); general practitioners (GPs) (OR=0.45, 95%CI: 0.31-0.64); and paediatrician (OR=0.52, 95%CI: 0.35-0.77). In contrast, they were more likely to visit a hospital outpatient clinic (OR=1.82, 95%CI: 1.16-2.85). Mothers' age, education and marital status were associated with certain health services use. Financial status and residential location were the important predictors of the use of health services. Conclusion: The rates of health services utilisation by Indigenous infants were lower and were associated with mothers' characteristics and socio-economic status. Implications: The gaps in health services utilisation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous infant requires immediate policy initiatives. Further research is needed to explore the causal pathways between health status, health services utilisation and multiple risk factors at different levels. [source]


    Expectations of the child health nurse in Sweden: two perspectives

    INTERNATIONAL NURSING REVIEW, Issue 2 2003
    A. Fägerskiöld MScN
    Abstract Background: the child health service exists to support and stimulate parents in order to reduce stress and to encourage an advantageous development of the preschool child. Aim: To explore and describe similarities and differences in expectations of the child health nurse, from the perspective of the recently delivered first-time mother, as compared to an expression of what the child health nurse believed mothers of infants expected of them. The data consisted of 15 interviews with child health nurses and 20 interviews with first-time mothers. Thematic content analysis resulted in seven categories of expectations. The child health nurse was expected to be someone to approach, who could assess the child's development and give immunizations and to be a supporter, counsellor, safety provider and a parent group organizer with knowledge. Similarities between the mothers' and the nurses' statements occurred more frequently than differences, which is suggested to depend on the Swedish tradition among new mothers of visiting the child health clinic. The mothers expected participation in parent groups to a higher degree than the nurses thought they did. Child health nurses who fulfil the mothers' expectations appear to require a good relationship with the mother in order to find out what she desires, which the allocation of sufficient time for regular meetings, will facilitate. Moreover, the nurse requires knowledge about children's requirements and the transition to motherhood as well as the father's important role. [source]


    General practitioners: Their contact with maternal and child health nurses in postnatal care

    JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 2 2000
    C Mbwili-Muleya
    Objective: To assess the level of contact of general practitioners (GP) with maternal and child health nurses (MCHN) in postnatal care. Methodology: A postal survey of 1104 Victorian GP was used, with a response rate of 70%. To account for the clustered sampling frame, hierarchical data analysis techniques were used. Results: Half of the GP (351/710) had no contact with their local MCHN in the previous month; and one in 10 had four or more contacts. Eighty-eight per cent of GP described the contact as helpful. In 56% of cases the MCHN was reported as the usual initiator of the contact. The most common reason for contact concerned the baby's physical problems (42%). After adjusting for the number of women seen for the routine 6-week postnatal review and other GP characteristics, male GP were as likely as female GP to report MCHN contact (odds ratio (OR) = 1.00; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.67,1.62). General practitioners aged 31,40 years were more likely to report contact with MCHN than GP aged 51,60 (OR = 0.45; 95% CI = 0.22,0.86) as were GP with the FRACGP qualification (OR = 1.64; 95% CI = 1.21,2.45). Conclusions: This study provides baseline information on the level of GP contact with MCHN as they provide postnatal care. Although there were GP in Victoria who maintained a level of contact with MCHN, almost half reported no contact in the previous month. Most GP who reported contact with MCHN found it useful. This finding should encourage GP and MCHN coordination to improve continuity and postnatal care outcomes. [source]


    Implications for nursing of the new national curriculum in personal, social and health education and education in citizenship

    CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 3 2001
    Therese Mill
    This article examines implications for nursing of the recent Government initiative to revise the National Curriculum in personal, social and health education (PSHE) in primary and secondary schools and to provide education in Citizenship for children and young people. Health education is but one strand of child health promotion which is rightly the concern of multidisciplinary team members. This initiative crosses the boundaries of health, education and social policy. It presents the challenge of new health promotion roles for child health nurses working in partnership with teachers in schools where the central focus will be empowerment of children and young people to fill their potential for achievement. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]