The Center for Pediatric Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has been making significant contributions to pediatric nursing science since 2006.
While medical research tends to focus on discovery and cure, nursing research focuses on building the scientific foundation for clinical practice, symptom management, and preventing illness through screening and education. The goal of nursing research and evidence-based practice is to improve care and outcomes for patients and their families from birth through young adulthood.
Pediatric nursing research focuses on helping children and their families learn to cope with the consequences of acute and chronic illness as well as the medical treatments for these conditions, such as painful procedures, or nutritional issues and fatigue resulting from chemotherapy. At CHOP, we study best methods to help children and families manage chronic illness such as diabetes, sickle cell disease, congenital heart disease or asthma through a lens of developmental care since the cognitive abilities and needs of preterm infants, young children and adolescents vary widely.
These are some examples of clinically important nursing research in progress or recently completed at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
This study included children receiving Botox injections during an outpatient visit in the sedation unit. The goal is to determine the effect of a certified companion dog on the anxiety and pain of children during initial treatment and the effect of repeated exposure at a second visit 6-9 months later.
We interviewed 40 children with ASD following a scheduled surgery or traumatic injury to better understand how to treat their pain.
Two nurse practitioners who work with children with sickle cell disease (SCD), the most common genetic disease affecting 1 in 400 African Americans, wrote a children's book to help young children ages 4-8 years learn about SCD.