First, in this essay, the author will discuss the clinical and theoretical methods for diagnosing and managing pediatric gastroenteritis. Secondly, the author will also discuss professional values ​​for NHS staff in caring for patients and their families, such as the NMC code. Furthermore, the author will analyze the essay scenario and apply a series of theoretical principles on caring for a child, such as Emily, a 4-year-old girl who was diagnosed with gastroenteritis. Furthermore, the author will then go on to discuss NICE guidelines in relation to Emily's case. Finally, the author will discuss various topics to provide as much information and understanding about caring for a child with gastroenteritis. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay on gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea. It is a very common condition in children that causes severe diarrhea and vomiting. It is caused by intestinal bugs or a bacterial condition. There are various precautions that need to be implemented to control epidemics in healthcare settings, such as isolation precautions since, without adequate precautions and guidelines, gastroenteritis can be easily transmitted. Patients should be placed on contact precautions for at least 48 hours before it is determined whether they have gastroenteritis as it could be norovirus and this is highly infectious. The second important precaution is hand hygiene. Staff should strongly promote hand hygiene within the healthcare environment to reduce the occurrence of gastroenteritis as hands are known to carry the majority of bacteria present in the human body. Liquids and foods can easily become contaminated if hands are not washed thoroughly, so an illustrated step-by-step guide to hand washing should be placed around the hospital, in bathrooms, corridors and cubicles. There should also be a sign at the entrance to the department inviting visitors to thoroughly ice their hands with the gels provided in the corridors. The third precaution to be enacted is to ensure a clean hygienic environment. Medical environments that provide gastrointestinal care will need to increase and perform daily cleaning and disinfection of the areas and equipment used. During the gastrointestinal ward epidemic, cleaning must be carried out twice a day to ensure cleanliness, with high-touch surfaces to be disinfected approximately three times a day. Finally, if a gastrointestinal infection is suspected, staff should use the highly recommended PPE (personal protective equipment) for people entering the patient care area. An example of the equipment are gloves and gowns worn during entry. If the patient has been discharged, the cabin in which he spent the duration of treatment must be booked for a thorough cleaning. This involves a thorough cleaning of the room using disinfectants such as bleach before another patient is admitted into the cabin. Monitoring and managing fluid intake and output is important when treating gastroenteritis as patients lose a lot of fluids through vomiting and diarrhea, decreased urine output is a problem sign of dehydration. With fluid management, healthcare professionals must ensure that the number of incoming fluids are released in equal quantities. More importantly, dehydration caused by diarrhea is statistically one of the leading causes of death of infants and children in the modern world. It is also one of the most severe cases of poor growth and nutritional loss. Afluid table will be used and populated when Emily's observations are needed to track her inputs and outputs. The Bristol Stool Chart (BSC) is used to describe the consistency of stool where pictures and words are included. Healthcare professionals use it to help patients indicate what their stool is like, this will help patients know if they have constipation, normal stool or diarrhea. Emily's stool consistency will need to be noted to see if there are any changes in the next observation, it is important to ask about her stools as the consistency may have changed significantly since the last observation. Health care providers can leave a Bristol stool chart with children to help Emily describe and identify the consistency of her stool when she uses the bathroom. Dehydration is caused when an individual's body does not have the necessary amount of water. Without the proper amount, the body is unable to function properly. An individual may suffer from mild, moderate, or severe dehydration depending on the amount of fluid missing in the individual's body. There are numerous dangers of dehydration for children, such as very high temperatures, swelling of the tongue, scaly and loose skin, and longer capillary refill time (CRT). Major organs such as the heart and lungs will begin to fail thus causing the patient's death. Doctors prescribed Emily IV fluids for her dehydration through cannulation. Emily's consent would not be necessary for this as she is too young to consent, although explaining the cannulation procedure to Emily's level of understanding might make her less scared. Consent from Emily's parents will be required. Shock will be treated by rapid intravenous infusion of 20 ml/kg of 0.9% sodium chloride solution. in Emily's case, intravenous infusion would be best since she is unable to tolerate oral fluids, so oral fluids will not help if she continues to vomit. A fluid chart will be kept and the IV pump will be checked every hour, to ensure there are no blockages and to see how much of the treatment remains until the end. Signatures will be required for each check and date as the charts are a legal document. Pain is an unpleasant sensation, there are different types of pain such as throbbing and stabbing. Pain score charts are used to determine a patient's pain level. There are 2 types of pain score charts, one with faces showing various emotions and another with numbers from 1 to 10. Emily is in the peri-operational stage of Piaget's developmental theory stage. The pre-operational stage (2-7 years) is the second stage in developmental theory, this is a stage where at the beginning children are not able to use logical thinking but towards the end they can make simple decisions using logical thinking, are built to be able to think logically. Emily is at the beginning of this phase; the author thinks it is better to use the pain score of faces when asking Emily about her pain since faces with emotions will make it easier for her to decide instead of using numbers since she is more familiar with expressing herself through emotions instead of numbers. To distract Emily from the pain, the best technique to use would be through symbolic play. The author suggests using characters from movies, TV shows, and Emily's interests to distract her from pain and certain procedures, even reading books could be used to get Emily's attention. Animism and constructive play would also be great techniques to distract Emily. If there is a specific toy that he created abond during her hospital stay, the staff who care for her can make it come to life using Emily's imagination through role-play. Hard toys that belong in the hospital and are easy to clean should only be used with Emily as she can easily transmit gastroenteritis to another person. Good examples of hard toys are Lego bricks and other plastic toys. Emily can bring her soft toys, such as stuffed animals, but she will have to take them home with her when she leaves because they will be contaminated. Many children like to hug and carry plush toys such as teddy bears because this gives them a feeling of comfort and that is what needs to be achieved. Another helpful distraction technique would be to talk to Emily and ask her questions about school, friends, hobbies and her siblings, as these will most likely be positive topics for Emily to discuss so that she is not too anxious during the surgery. Creating a stimulating environment for children within the ward will help to engage their minds, for example by showcasing a line of numbers and alphabets along the corridor and previous work done by patients. Managing Emily's pain should also be a priority to ensure no discomfort is caused. Emily suffers from stomach pain due to diarrhea. There are many painkillers such as paracetamol, ibuprofen and codeine that you can take to reduce stomach pain. Paracetamol would be best as it can be taken on an empty stomach and eliminate the pain and fever, while ibuprofen should be taken after meals as it can cause Emily more pain if taken on an empty stomach. Codeine is not suitable for Emily's age as it cannot be taken by individuals under the age of 12. Medications should be carefully administered to Emily. Healthcare professionals should ensure that they avoid diarrhea medications as it is not recommended that children under 12 years of age take antidiarrheal medications. Anne Casey created a theory called Casey's model on nursing in 1988. It is a family-centered model of care, which means that the family is included and therefore has an active role towards the well-being of the patient since nurses cannot take over the role of family members. Over time the model was developed in other areas of England. This model shows that the most suitable people to care for a pediatric patient are family members with the help of various health and social professionals. Emily's condition will mean she will have to stay in hospital for a while, this may lead to her feeling isolated due to limited interaction with friends and family. No child wants to be away from their siblings and family and especially being in a different environment and not being able to see familiar faces can lead Emily to feel alone and scared. To address this problem, medical staff can ensure that she is happy by bringing her toys/games to engage her mind. Emily's relationship could potentially be affected as the siblings could become jealous due to the amount of attention Emily receives from her parents, causing sibling rivalry. Overall Emily will feel more isolated as she is not able to interact as much with friends and family, she will also be limited to physical activities and children at a young age tend to be very enthusiastic and energetic. Emily's condition makes her very dehydrated and has stomach pain, which therefore causes Emily to feel tired; discomfort, headache, loss of appetite, fever and abdominal cramps. Provide Emily's parents with helpful information to ensure that ihygiene levels and infection control are maintained to a high standard to reduce the risk of spread. Parents may limit things like carbonated drinks as they won't keep her hydrated and avoid dairy until her GI tract improves, but this may be difficult as she is a baby and milk is often the only thing babies want to have . Emily's parents need to be informed that she cannot go swimming 2 weeks after being discharged to ensure she does not pass it on to others. Emily will lose her education, which she will have to make up for after one time. she starts to feel better although she will be given some sort of education to keep her occupied, such as coloring books and games. Additionally, providing the mother and family members who visit the ward with magazines and newspapers to ensure that they are also occupied as they are in the ward for a long period may cause them to become disengaged. The medical staff can also encourage Emily's mother to take her into the playroom when she is feeling physically active, this will stimulate her mind while she plays and keep Emily occupied if her mother wants to go into the parents' room for a short break where she can prepare a hot drink and relax. Depending on the patient's culture, patients may request to be cared for by healthcare professionals of the same sex as it is not appropriate for an unmarried, blood-related man and woman to have contact. Patients' requests and culture should be respected as it is part of the NMC code to show respect towards others. Multi-faith prayer rooms are available to make patients feel comfortable praying in private. Sometimes imams, priests and rabbis are available. Prayer rooms include religious books such as the Bible, the Quran and the Torah. Emily's mother is a resident during her care at the hospital. She will most likely become stressed and worried because being a parent and seeing your child suffer and not being able to do anything to resolve and reduce the pain makes parents feel helpless. She is worried if her health might worsen, so she might become depressed and anxious due to overthinking about the outcome. Emily's mother also has other children besides Emily to take care of, her mind will be focused in two places, trying to make sure that Emily is okay and that her siblings at home are okay. The Nursing and Midwifery Council has set out rules and regulations that nurses must comply with as part of their contract. The standard set by the NMC is to ensure that the public is provided with good quality care and is protected from harm. Professional values ​​and beliefs, such as the NMC code, should be kept in mind when caring for patients. It is important that staff protect Emily's dignity when an accident occurs as it will be difficult for Emily to control her bowel movements and vomiting. Staff should reassure her to give her comfort, so that she does not feel embarrassed. If she is yelled at or the staff shows disgust when an incident occurs, Emily will be less likely to say anything to the staff because she will be afraid. The way staff communicate with Emily is also important, staff should show kindness and communicate with respect when caring for her needs. Patient autonomy is when patients can make their own decisions without the nurses caring for them trying to influence their decisions. Healthcare professionals can provide advice on advantages and disadvantages, but patients should be empowered to make decisions using the information provided. In Emily's case, her parents will be informed and advised on treatment, then.