III the role of the nurse in pediatrics

Summary

In summary, the nurse is the assistant of the doctor in providing preventive and curative health services for the child. She is the person in closest contact with the patient and the family—in the hospital, the clinic and the home; also with the child, the family and the teacher in the school. Therefore she is the key person in a position to carry out health teaching. She must assume responsibility for teaching and supervising thedais if maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates are to be reduced appreciably in the near future. If school health services are to be developed on a sound basis, the ratio of nurses to doctors in the school health team should be such that there are sufficient nurses to carry health teaching to the pupils, the teachers and the parents.

Nurses, midwives and health visitors must receive the training needed to carry out the duties expected of them. Training in paediatrics needs to be strengthened and all categories should receive training and experience in the domiciliary field and in preventive health measures, including health education. Increased hostel and classroom accommodation are urgently needed to make possible the increase in numbers of nurses so urgently needed.

Improved and increased training, together with carefully planned utilization of the nurses who are available, will be necessary to make it possible to reach the objectives of the second Five Year Plan.