Pediatric Nursing Specialty (Anesthesia Care Option), Advanced Certificate, Part-time

Program Overview

This program provides specialized training in pediatric nursing, focusing on the unique needs of children and their families. Students develop comprehensive assessment skills and learn to provide safe and ethical care for pediatric patients in various settings, including hospitals, community health centers, and schools. Graduates are eligible to write the Specialty Nursing exam for Pediatric Nursing and have a starting salary of approximately $32 per hour.

Program Outline

Outline:

Courses (with Descriptions)

• NSPE 7100: Pediatric Theory 1
• Introduction to pediatric nursing, focusing on characteristics of children and families that influence their interpretation and response to life events and environments, and how nurses respond to and interact with them.
• Covers developmental assessment, medication safety, nutrition, and prevention of infectious diseases within the context of developmental stages.
• Introduces the concept of oxygen supply and demand and the significance of this knowledge for the provision of optimal care.
• Also introduces the process of comprehensive pediatric assessment as a means of understanding the patient's experience and the meaning they attach to these experiences.
• NSPE 7200: Pediatric Theory 2
• Builds on NSPE 7100, focusing on applying concepts to patient-based case studies to enhance critical thinking about assessment findings.
• Addresses specific body systems and health challenges, such as fever and sepsis, dehydration, shock, respiratory distress, developmental delay and autism, UTI, neurological concerns, cardiac defects and concerns, orthopaedics, pain management, mental health, bullying, nutrition, aboriginal health, and dermatology.
• Explores developmental, family, and assessment issues.
• Incorporates the concepts of oxygen supply and demand into assessment.
• Emphasizes partnership with families, growth and development, social determinants of health, and the effects of stress on children and families.
• NSPE 7300: Pediatric Clinical 1
• 3-week preceptorship course where students develop their role in pediatric nursing by exploring the pediatric environment and assessing influences pertaining to pediatric patient and family health.
• Focuses on applying and integrating theory and frameworks from preceding courses, developing comprehensive assessment skills, and applying this knowledge in the care of pediatric patients and their families.
• Students provide nursing care for pediatric patients experiencing health problems such as respiratory distress, cardiac failure, acute gastrointestinal illness, neurological illnesses, and mental health challenges.
• Emphasizes applying theory related to oxygen supply and demand, comprehensive assessment, monitoring skills, and clinical decision-making.
• Promotes safe, competent, and ethical nursing care.
• Fosters collaborative relationships with patients, families, colleagues, instructors, and other healthcare providers.
• NSPE 7360: Pediatric Anesthesia Care Nursing Theory 1
• Introduces the unique and highly specialized area of pediatric anesthesia care nursing, focusing on the preoperative phase.
• Builds on concepts from Pediatric Nursing Theory 1 and 2, exploring foundational concepts of perianesthetic care while considering children's growth and development stages and the unique physiology of different pediatric age groups.
• Develops a deeper understanding of pediatric pathophysiology, assessment, and decision-making related to contexts experienced by children undergoing sedation and anesthesia.
• Explores chronic illness, renal sufficiency, respiratory, neurological and cardiac assessments, chronic illness, mental health, and pain management in the context of the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU).
• Challenges learners to make clinical decisions and plan care for selected individuals undergoing sedation and general anesthetic procedures.
• NSPE 7370: Pediatric Anesthesia Care Nursing Preceptorship 1
• First preceptorship course that addresses care for patients in the preoperative stage.
• Integrates theory and frameworks from preceding courses to develop comprehensive assessment skills and apply them to providing safe, competent, and ethical nursing care for pediatric patients and their families undergoing surgery, sedation, and procedural anesthesia.
• Emphasizes working in partnership with patients and families to understand unique patient and family situations.
• Develops critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills through collaboration with preceptors to select and evaluate therapeutic interventions.
• Reflects on ethical issues and collaborative, family-centred care.
• NSPE 7380: Pediatric Anesthesia Care Nursing Theory 2
• Continues to build on concepts introduced in Pediatric Anesthesia Care Nursing Theory 1.
• Focuses on developing a deeper understanding of pediatric pathophysiology, assessment, critical thinking, and decision-making related to a variety of experiences faced by pediatric patients who have undergone sedation and general anesthesia.
• Utilizes case studies to address focused assessments and interventions for health challenges seen in the PACU, including thermoregulation, nausea and vomiting, haemodynamic monitoring, pain assessment, fluid management, ECG interpretation, shock, cardiac and respiratory arrest, and emergence delirium.
• Emphasizes the optimization of oxygen supply and demand balance through the use of hemodynamic monitoring, arterial blood gas analysis, CPAP/BiPAP, and other strategies.
• Challenges learners to make clinical decisions and plan care for selected individuals.
• NSPE 7390: Pediatric Anesthesia Care Nursing Preceptorship 2
• Second preceptorship course that focuses on applying and integrating nursing knowledge to provide care for pediatric patients recovering from surgery and procedural anesthesia and their families.
• Develops comprehensive assessment skills by providing safe, competent, and ethical nursing care for patients requiring ventilation support, hemodynamic monitoring, pain assessment, fluid management, ECG interpretation, and emergence delirium in collaboration with their preceptors.
• Emphasizes working in partnership with patients and families to understand unique patient and family situations.
• Start salary is approximately $32 per hour.
• Work involves:
• Physical assessments
• Educating families on care and prevention
• Designing home care plans for children with special needs
• Caring for children with chronic illness or injury
• Creating a safe environment for young patients
• Working closely with physicians on an on-going basis
• Work settings include:
• Dedicated pediatric units in hospitals
• Community health centers
• Doctors' offices
• Schools