The History of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
Pediatric nursing is "the practice of nursing with children, youth and their families across the health continuum, including health promotion, illness management, and health restoration," wrote J. H. Barnsteiner, J. S. Wyatt, and V. Richardson in the journal "Pediatric Nursing." Pediatric nursing did not become a nursing specialty until 1855, with the founding of the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, according to Mary K. Taylor in the "Journal of the Medical Library Association."
Other People Are Reading
-
Beginning
-
Before pediatric nursing, most women gave birth with the aid of midwives and then relied on a combination of superstition and folktales for family medical prevention. The first purpose of pediatric nursing was an attempt to bring down America's high infant and childhood mortality rate.
Purpose
-
More children's hospitals began opening in America, including facilities in Boston (1869), New York (1870), San Francisco (1875) and St. Louis (1879), Taylor noted in the "Journal of the Medical Library Association." These hospitals increased the number and need for nursing schools. During this era, pediatric nurses became proponents of teaching mothers how, and how to improve, the way they fed their children to decrease infant mortality.
-
Time Frame
-
During the 1920's, pediatric nurses educated new mothers on everything from sanitary milk handling to the role of family in child rearing. During the 50's through through 70's, pediatric nurses pushed for community-based child raising and began educating families about family theory and multicultural care.
Current
-
In 1977, pediatric nurses were officially certified through the creation of the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board. Currently, hospitals are understaffed with pediatric nurses due to budget constraints and nurses have needed to adjust, over the past decades, to the practice of quick release of patients, even after childbirth.
-
References
- "Journal of the Medical Library Association"; Mapping the Literature of Pediatric Nursing; Mary K. Taylor; April 2006
- "Pediatric Nursing"; J. H. Barnsteiner, What do pediatric nurses do? Results of the role delineation study in Canada and the United States; J. S. Wyatt, and V. Richardson; March-April, 2002
Resources
- Photo Credit nurse chris image by John Keith from Fotolia.com
