Abstract
This research was undertaken as part of a larger project designed to establish some means of assessing standards of nursing care. This particular study was confined to examination of 'quality care' in paediatric units. An assumption was made that nursing care of satisfactory quality exists only when the emotional needs as well as the physical needs of the patient are considered and provision is made for their fulfillment. A review of the literature concerning child care studies in paediatric hospitals makes it apparent that general theories of child care or findings from relevant studies are not always incorporated in nursing practices in hospitals. The field work for the present study has been conducted in nine paediatric units. Modified activity sampling was used to find out how the nurses spent their time, and similar techniques were modified to observe and attempt to assess the child's emotional well-being during a seven day period. Nurses completed questionnaires designed to demonstrate their understanding and knowledge of the young patient's emotional needs, and semi-structured interviews were held with sisters in charge of the units and tutors of the training schools, in order to discover how much benefit the nurses were deriving from ward practice and from theory. The results of these interviews and findings derived from the questionnaires are presented and discussed. A means of measuring the quality of care for children's emotional needs is described. Finally, conclusions are formulated, and subsequent recommendations to improve nursing practice are suggested. These relate mainly to the need to find ways of increasing the nursing staffs understanding of the emotional needs of young children and discovering ways of meeting those needs. An experimental course, which might contribute to these ends is outlined. During the project it become clear that little objective knowledge of nurses' activities in children's wards was available. As already stated, part of the study was comprised of a modified activity sampling of nurses' duties. The results showed that with proper management the nurses in the wards observed had time available to be able to care for the children's emotional needs. Taking the study as a whole it is clear that there is a strong case for teaching the nurses more of these emotional needs and for extension of parental attendance in children's wards.