Healing the world's forgotten children: an international nursing experience.

An increasing number of nurses are volunteering to participate in overseas missions. The focus of many of these missions is to perform plastic and reconstructive surgery on children. Nursing practice within the health care system of a third-world country is both exciting and challenging. Since 1978, Operation Rainbow has given nurses the opportunity to experience perioperative nursing in international settings. Although filled with many hardships, international nursing can be a very rewarding experience.

Pediatric sedation. Essentials for the perioperative nurse.

Sedation of children undergoing surgical procedures is one of many issues facing perioperative nurses today. This article reviews relevant professional guidelines for the practice of sedation in children and describes the implications for perioperative nurses. Topics covered include preparation of the patient, monitoring guidelines, and the use of pharmacological agents.

Sedation and analgesia for minor pediatric procedures.

Owing to recent emphasis upon the benefits of effective pain management, parents and health care providers expect infants and children to receive safe, effective sedation and analgesia for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The Committee on Drugs of the American Academy of Pediatrics has addressed the issue of safety in its recently revised guidelines for monitoring and management of patients undergoing sedation for procedures. Patients undergoing emergency procedures present additional problems because of the limited opportunity to optimally prepare patients and families. Today, managing children undergoing invasive procedures can include the use of sedatives, analgesics, anesthetics, and nonpharmacologic strategies. New formulations of local and topical anesthetics have enhanced their efficacy and reduced pain associated with administration. Innovations in the administration of sedatives and analgesics, as well as antagonists, have enhanced both efficacy and safety. This article reviews recommended guidelines for monitoring and management of patients undergoing sedation for minor procedures and discusses various sedative, analgesic, and anesthetic alternatives available to clinicians.

Separation of conjoined twins.

Preparing for surgical separation of conjoined twins involves coordination, communication, and multidisciplinary planning by several specialties. This article discusses the embryology, etiology, and incidence of conjoined twins and provides a historical perspective of the different types of conjoined twins. A case study describes the perioperative management of conjoined twins at Texas Children's Hospital's, Houston. Team members' roles are discussed, and the perioperative care of conjoined twins detailed.

Pain management in children.

Pain management in children has only recently been described in medical and nursing literature. The lingering myth that children do not experience pain, combined with difficulties in assessing pain, hamper pain management. Various assessment tools for pediatric pain exist. Options for management include blocks, opioids, topical anesthetics, and nonpharmacological techniques.

Cleft lips and palates: a multidisciplinary approach.

Families of infants born with congenital defects such as cleft lip, cleft palate, and combinations of these often grasp with accepting the condition. Nurses can help facilitate acceptance by parents and families and play a key role in the management and habilitation of these children.

Role perception of mothers who have hospitalized children.

Childhood illness and hospitalization are stressful events for a family. Minimizing the trauma of hospitalization for children and their parents is a goal for health care workers in pediatric settings. This study examined the way in which mothers perceive their role in caring for their hospitalized children. Communication between the nurse and mother concerning that role was also explored. Results showed that the majority of mothers prefer to perform many child-care activities for their hospitalized children. However, relatively few mothers reported that they had received any communication regarding their role with their child from the staff.