Home intravenous therapy training for carers of children and young people

Abstract

Modernization of the health service has provided patients with an element of choice with health care, which has enabled parents and carers to carry out treatments such as home intravenous therapy (HIVT). Current literature has highlighted the importance of educational programmes for caregivers when undertaking HIVT. This article provides an overview of a training package, developed at Nottingham City Hospital by the children's respiratory nurses. The package is used to assist parents and carers with HIVT for children and young people with respiratory conditions, in particular, cystic fibrosis. The stages of a training programme are discussed, including details of an audit that demonstrated a good response rate in relation to how useful the training pack was for HIVT.

Becoming an expert carer: the process of family carers learning to manage technical health procedures at home

“…Another factor which influenced the teaching location was the teacher's role and whether or not they were based in a hospital or community setting or could operate across both. This also related to whether or not learners had continuity of teacher or instead the involvement of multiple personnel, the latter carrying the risk of inconsistency between teachers (Mighten ). It was not clear in this study why some procedures were taught by specialist staff (for example, home dialysis and type 1 diabetes management) and some by generalists (such as nasogastric or gastrostomy feeding); it may reflect historical health service or speciality development, or practical issues such as the volume of people needing to be trained.…”

Subcutaneous IgG replacement after pediatric SCT

“…The families in the sc IgG replacement group also appreciated the reduced need for visits to the clinic and participation in their child’s treatment (23, 27, 28). To avoid parental anxiety and problematic situations all parents were taught to perform the sc IgG replacement by specialist nurses who could also guide the parents by telephone when performing sc IgG replacement at home (28, 29). None of the families in the present study experienced any difficulties in learning how to perform the sc IgG replacement, which is in line with previous experience of parent‐administered treatment in children with PADs (22, 23).…”