ABSTRACT
Within Australia and the rest of the world paediatric orthopaedic nursing as a subspeciality nursing workforce faces challenges due to a lack of formal education programs that support the development of knowledge. Despite these challenges the need to ensure the availability of competent and knowledgeable nursing staff to positively contribute to health care outcomes remains unchanged. Thus a need has arisen to develop locally implemented education programs. A multi-tiered paediatric orthopaedic nursing transition program which incorporates work based learning processes combined, with formal assessment components, has been designed utilising Benner's "theory of novice to expert" to facilitate the growth of experts in the clinical setting driven by the requirements of individual clinical settings. The implementation of this program has led to increased confidence in the clinical setting for nursing staff which has positively influenced the care of children and their families in the orthopaedic service.
Subject(s)
Education, Nursing, Continuing/organization & administration , Nursing Staff, Hospital/education , Orthopedic Nursing/education , Pediatric Nursing/education , Australia , Child , Clinical Competence , Curriculum , Humans , Models, Educational , Nurse's Role , Program DevelopmentABSTRACT
Bisphosphonates are a group of drugs that have been used extensively for more than 10 years to treat adults with osteoporosis. Use of bisphosphonates in pediatrics has generally been confined to conditions such as osteogenesis imperfecta or other conditions with bone density problems. Bisphosphonates increase bone density, bone mineral content, and strength; improve mobility; reduce fracture rates; and are effective agents in combating bone pain. Bisphosphonates inhibit osteoclastic action, thereby increasing bone density (Rauch & Glorieux 2004). Recently there has been interest in the effect of bisphosphonates in localized disorders of bone, including avascular necrosis. The third-generation bisphosphonate zoledonic acid is currently being explored as a treatment for children presenting with Perthes disease at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia, and this is a report of that experience.
