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Nursing of children requires integration of components from many knowledge areas, and nurses must consistently plan and carry out interventions to promote health and prevent disease and injury for children and adolescents. A new healthcare model is applied to child health nursing within all healthcare contexts, from acute care settings to chronic care services to well child focused care. Health promotion and health maintenance are defined and explored, along with application of these concepts in major types of care along the healthcare continuum. The influences of family, culture, and community are viewed as integral to health promotion strategies. The nurse plans for health promotion and health maintenance activities during all acute, chronic, and end-of-life care for youth. The healthcare model is a new and creative method in which to frame healthcare for children.
Nursing of children requires integration of components from many knowledge areas. Normal growth and development are imbedded in all healthcare provided; physiology and pathophys-iology are applied within the context of a growing child or adolescent; ongoing healthcare services are needed to foster and maintain health of children at various ages; families must be included in the care of children; and the community plays a major part in the health status of children and families. A model that recognizes and includes all of these important concepts of child healthcare is needed by nurses and other healthcare providers. This article describes a newly proposed healthcare model and its application to child health nursing within diverse healthcare contexts, from acute care settings to chronic care services to well child focused care.
Types and Components of Care
A major type of healthcare provided for children is primary care or well child care, which commonly involves health promotion and health maintenance interventions. Although recommended visit schedules, assessments, interventions, and topics to be addressed are available from groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, various studies have found that, depending on populations and settings, only 37% to 81% of children attend all recommended primary healthcare visits (Chung, Lee, Morrison, & Schuster, 2006). Therefore, other types of care, including acute care, chronic care, and end-of-life care, can and should include activities related to health promotion and health maintenance. It is proposed that those activities should be integrated...