Pediatric nurses launch association

A nurse attending to a child at Entebbe General Hospital. Photo/File

Children need specialized nursing caring because their health needs are unique and different from those of adults. Therefore, the government and hospital administrators have been urged to assign paediatric nurses to children's wards instead of sending there general nurses.

The call was made by Jolly Rubambarama, the chairperson of the Uganda National Association of Paediatric and Child Health Nurses. Rubambarama made the remarks while launching the association at the Grand Imperial Hotel in Kampala today.

The paediatric nurses association was officially registered in 2014 as a company limited by guarantee with membership drawn from paediatric wards; mother and child clinics; maternity wards and medical colleges across the country. It currently has 150 members.

Rubambarama decried the fact that hospitals do not pay attention to the special needs of sick children and as a result, let them to be handled by general nurses, while specialised paediatric nurses are also assigned to other wards where they cannot put their specialised skills to use. Paediatric nurses and midwives are equipped with specialized skills in the care of newborns, sick children, child health interventions and adolescent health.