Reflections and thoughts from the President, Chair and Deputy Chair
Presidential reflection: the importance of clean air
I’ve attended nearly every one of the ABPN’s webinars. They have been presented by experts, passionate about their subject matter and the content has been excellent, informative and prompted reflection. For most professionals the decisions about the topics we focus on and develop expertise in are based on choice and an affinity for the subject.
However, sometimes interest in a subject is forced upon us.
In a moving, sobering, hopeful and activist webinar on ‘Living with Long Covid’ Alison Twycross and Michaela Barnard spoke about their own Long Covid experiences as well as their work through their charity Supporting Healthcare Heroes UK. This is a subject they have become expert in but not one they would necessarily have chosen.
One aspect of their talk focused on their #SafeAir4All campaign ‘to raise awareness of the importance of clean air in healthcare facilities.’ The quality of the air we breathe in healthcare settings is important but something that is often overlooked. You can find out more about the issue and how you can help on their #SafeAir4All webpage.
Clean air is something we should not take for granted. Poor indoor and outdoor air quality negatively impacts health [1, 2, 3]. There is increasing global evidence of the disproportionate impact of air pollution and other environmental risks on children’s health and development. Air pollution can result in respiratory disorders, neurodevelopmental impairment, and exacerbated chronic conditions [4, 5, 6]; clean air policies can have substantial positive impacts on child health [7].
As children’s nurses we need to think about how we can play a part in advocating for clean air for children and ourselves, both in terms of the indoor air (e.g. in hospitals and schools) and the outdoor air we breathe.
Professor Bernie Carter, ABPN President, bernie.carter@edgehill.ac.uk
Words from the Interim Chair
In early July Caron Eyre, Chair of the ABPN, contacted the Association to explain she had to stand down from her role as ABPN Chair with immediate effect due to personal, family reasons. I am sure that we all agree that our families must always come first, and we send Caron our sincere thanks and heartfelt best wishes. As the Deputy Chair of the Association, I was asked to step up to take on the role of Interim Chair; I gladly accepted this role.
We are eternally grateful to Caron for her excellent leadership over her several years as the ABPN Chair. Caron wishes that ABPN members continue with the important work, vision and values of the ABPN.
In other news, on June 16th 2025 the ABPN Governance and Development (G&D) group held a Strategy Day in Birmingham. The aim was to identify priorities and agree actions relating to the many important issues raised by ABPN members and colleagues from a range of organisations and networks during recent meetings and the monthly webinars. Key points for action from the Strategy Day include keeping children’s rights and trauma-informed approaches at the heart of the ABPN’s work.
Reflecting proactive leadership and the growing ABPN membership and wishing to enhance members’ experience, the ABPN will continue to provide educational webinars, develop policy and produce position statements on national decisions made within the four countries of the United Kingdom that affect the quality of life of babies, children, young people and their families. The ABPN’s work agenda is wide and relevant to clinical practice and nurse education and will continue to be actioned through consultation with ABPN members.
As Interim Chair of ABPN I send sincere thanks to the members of the ABPN working groups and to the contributors to the ABPN webinars who have provided outstanding, relevant and contemporary resources for ABPN members and its wider communities.
Your excellent and continuing commitment to ABPN is very much appreciated. Please be assured that your contributions make a significant difference to the quality of healthcare experienced by babies, children, young people and their families across the four countries of the United Kingdom and beyond.
Thank you and very best wishes,
Dr Jean A Davies, Deputy Chair, Acting Interim Chair jean.davies@bangor.ac.uk
Could you be our Chair?
Could you be our next Chair?
The Association is seeking to appoint a person to undertake the role of Chair.
This is an exciting and important role, and the successful person would become part of the Governance and Development Board (G&D Board).
For more details about the role of the Chair and what it entails, please go to our website to download an Information Pack.
Meet the Team
Meet Kath Evans, Championing Babies, Children, Young People & Families
Kath Evans joined the Governance and Development Board of the Association in March 2025. She is a passionate children’s nurse who’s dedicated her career to improving the experiences and outcomes of babies, children, young people (BCYP), and their families. Starting her journey as a Registered General and Children’s Nurse, Kath’s roles have spanned the bedside to the boardroom, always with compassion, curiosity, and courage at the heart of her practice.
Currently the Director of Children’s Nursing at Barts Health, Kath also provides clinical leadership to the BCYP agenda across North East London’s Integrated Care System and champions participation for children and young people at NHS England (London). Whether improving healthcare access for care-experienced young people, supporting children with learning disabilities, or testing social prescribing in paediatrics, her work is grounded in hearing what matters most to children, young people, and families and acting on it.
Previously, Kath led Experience of Care for Maternity, Babies, Children and Young People at NHS England, embedding family voices into policy, commissioning, and national practice. She also contributed to the NICE guideline on Experience of Care for Babies, Children and Young People.
Kath Evans, RGN, RSCN, MSc (Nursing), PG Dip (Education), BSc (Hons), PG Dip (Management), Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) Accredited Coach, Nye Bevan NHS Leadership Academy Graduate, Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), Cavell Star and CNO NHS England Gold Award.Director of Children’s Nursing, Barts Health; Babies, Children & Young People’s Clinical Lead, North East London Integrated Care Board; CYP Participation champion at NHS England (London).
Updates from the ABPN
Call for nominations for ABPN Awards
The Association recognises outstanding service, influence and impact in its Annual Awards. In addition to our Fellowship and Honorary Fellowship awards, this year we have created two new awards – our Awards of Merit.
Fellowships and Honorary Fellowships
Fellowships and Honorary Fellowships are awarded in recognition of practitioners, researchers, educationalists and leaders who share the ABPN’s aims and values to advance children’s nursing, the care of children and young people and improvement of services.
Nominations are made by peers to acknowledge expertise and experience, accomplishments and dedication to the above.
Awards of Merit
Two Awards of Merit are available. (1) ‘Recognition of service to the ABPN’ awarded to individuals in recognition of service to the ABPN; (2) ‘Recognition of influence and impact on services and the care of children’ awarded to individuals in recognition of their influence and impact on services and the care of children and young people
How to nominate
- Please do not tell the person you have nominated them
- Please complete the nomination form.
- Submit form to our Membership Officer abpnmembership@gmail.com
- Receipt of your nomination will be confirmed
- Note: One nomination for any of the above four awards can be made by an individual each year
Update on our Enhancing Membership Working Group
The number of student members is gradually increasing. Following the ABPN AGM, undergraduate students completing a programme to be a registered children’s nurse are eligible for free membership for the duration of their programme. Information revised for circulation to Nurse Lecturers and for cascade via social media.
Engagement of retired members has been discussed, with the proposal to develop a ‘chatter club’. If you are interested in assisting with this development or joining an ABPN ‘chatter club’ please email abpnmembership@gmail.com
If you would like to get involved in the Enhancing Membership Working Group or have suggestions about how best to engage with you, email Fiona.smith15@yahoo.com. Your email will be passed onto the chair Michael Tatterton, ABPN Fellow
Update on our Policy Development Working Group
The Policy Development Working Group has recently been focusing on work around Community Children’s Nursing following the webinar hosted by ABPN and the work undertaken at our AGM World Cafe, we will hopefully be publishing a resource very soon.
We have also been keeping a watching brief on the Assisted Dying Bill which has reached the House of Lords, with that work being picked up by Peers in September.
The Government published its '10 year health plan for England: Fit for the Future’ on 3 July. The ABPN has published a short background paper on the Plan, this includes some questions relating to the Plan for nurses to consider.
If you’re interested in finding out more, please get in touch with the Working Group Chairperson katrina.mcnamara@icloud.com
Update on our Communications and Raising the Profile Working Group
The Communications and Raising the Profile working group continues to be busy working with the other working groups to draft press releases linked to key international and national days, such as International Nurses Day and World Blood Donor Day, gather information for the newsletter and organise the ABPN ‘free’ and open to all webinar programme which is continually being updated with new presentations and discussions. If you have suggestions for future webinars, please email the chairperson fiona.smith15@yahoo.com
We are looking to support the development of a ‘chatter group’ for our retired members and to also develop a programme of webinars for our student members. If you have suggestions for topics of interest, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Since the last newsletter, Nicola Fielding has hosted three podcasts released during Dying Matters week
We are seeking additional members to participate in our activities, particularly in relation to working with journalists, the development of podcasts and social media activity. If you are interest in learning new skills and being involved, please contact the chairperson fiona.smith15@yahoo.com
If you have found other resources that maybe helpful to other ABPN members? Please let us know so we can share with others in future newsletters, please email fiona.smith15@yahoo.com
Free student membership
We want to welcome new students to the Association.
We offer free student membership for all students studying on an undergraduate CYP programme leading to RN Child registration. This free membership is for the duration of their programme.
This is a fantastic offer, so if you’re a student who meets the criteria, don’t hesitate to apply at membersabpn@yahoo.co.uk and/or check out our 'Become a member webpage
Update your details on the membership platform
The membership platform is a useful tool for all members. It is not only for administration purposes but also a way of linking members with each other. We would therefore encourage members to complete the biographical and interest sections. From this we will be able to build up collaborative groups and give you an opportunity to share your expertise or learn from others.
If you have not yet completed the registration process by responding to the invitation to join the platform, get in touch and we can send you a new invitation.
Press Releases and Media Activity
We have issued the following press releases since the publication of our last newsletter
Check out the ABPN website to keep up to date with further ABPN media activity
Update on our Social Media Drive
On social media we celebrated diabetes awareness week with an infographic each day on diabetes mellitus in children. We created an infographic for world blood donor day, letting people know how donating blood can save lives, and pride month, with information on ways parents can support their LGBTQIA+ child/children. We also celebrated Dying Matters Awareness Week in May with three podcasts and a series of posts around this year’s topic “The Culture of Dying Matters”.
We’ve been sharing our student recruitment far and wide - if you know any children’s nurses or pre-registration students studying for the RN Child please share this with them!
Finally, we’re excited to announce the big launch of our webinars backlog is coming soon! Each one has been recorded and is in the process of being uploaded to our YouTube channel.
Don’t miss out on all of the content we’ve mentioned and much more! Follow us on:
Fellowship Talk
This section plans to bring you news about our Fellows
In this section Debbie Fallon, Fellow of the ABPN talks about her work and the reasons she founded Children and Young People’s Nurse Academics UK. Debbie is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester.
A unified voice; fighting against the marginalisation of children’s nursing
Debbie Fallon, ABPN Fellow and Senior Lecturer, University of Manchester
Firstly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the ABPN for awarding me the Fellowship in recognition of my contributions to children’s nursing education.
I entered the field of children’s nursing through the post-registration route and qualified as a lecturer in 1995, at a time when nursing was still forging its identity as an academic discipline. It was also a period of significant growth in children’s nursing education, much of it driven by the recommendations of the Clothier Inquiry.
Like many lecturers, I had witnessed—or personally experienced—the marginalisation of children’s nursing within broader nursing curricula. But it was in 2015, following the publication of Raising the Bar, that I became acutely aware of how little policymakers truly understood about the vital role children’s nurses play in safeguarding not only the health of children, but of society as a whole.
Older, wiser, and more experienced colleagues than I will attest that this has long been a struggle—particularly during times of financial constraint. Still, Raising the Bar marked my first real encounter with a political threat to children’s nursing as a distinct educational qualification—one we could, and must, respond to.
It was in this context that I founded Children and Young People’s Nurse Academics UK (CYPNAUK) to establish a national network of children’s nursing academics with the capacity to respond quickly—and, most importantly, with a unified voice—to protect and promote children’s nursing as a distinct and essential discipline.
After ten years, I stepped down as Chair, but the group remains ever vigilant to the threat of "genericism by stealth" and continues to advocate for our discipline while closely monitoring educational and health policies that may undermine it.
As I reflect on the progress we’ve made, I remain hopeful for the future of children’s nursing. The passion, commitment, and innovation I see in the next generation of educators and practitioners give me confidence that our discipline will not only endure but thrive. It is my hope that we continue to speak with clarity and conviction about the unique value of children’s nursing, ensuring it retains its rightful place—academically, professionally, and politically—as a cornerstone of safe, compassionate, and effective healthcare for children and young people.
Nursing voices: stories from students and qualified nurses
In this section we hear from Lydia Pottecher Kelly, a third year MNurs (Adult and Child) student and from Nicola Fielding, an ABPN member and Lecturer in Child Health Nursing at the University of Plymouth. Both are clearly passionate about their practice.
The privilege we have as students to experience life
Lydia Pottecher Kelly MNurs (Adult and Child) student, Yr 3, University of Plymouth
I am Lydia Pottecher Kelly, a third-year MNurs (Adult and Child) Nursing Student. Currently, I am in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) as part of my clinical rotations, where I have had the incredible opportunity to shadow Emergency Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (ENNPs). Part of their role is to respond to emergency bleeps during deliveries and stabilise any baby who may need admission to the NICU.
The bleep had gone off and I went down with the ENNPs to a category two vaginal delivery. We arrived and got handover on the situation. A mother had come into triage in the late stages of labour at 38 weeks pregnant, 10 cm dilated, and no pain relief. She was incredibly distressed, in immense pain and worried about her baby. The medical team got to work, performing an episiotomy and grabbing forceps. For a few minutes, the ENNP and I held our breaths whilst monitoring was removed to deliver the baby. We had no idea what state the baby would be born in. I watched as a doctor took hold of the baby’s head with forceps, waited for the next contraction with the umbilical cord wrapped two times round the baby’s head and pulled. Whilst the room was erupting in chaos, we were all waiting for one thing, a cry.
It didn’t come and we rapidly transferred the baby to the Resuscitaire, a critical piece of equipment, that provides a warming therapy platform with the equipment available for clinical emergencies and resuscitation. We were next to the parents so that they could see what was happening to their newborn baby. The baby was purple, not responding or crying. The ENNP stimulated the baby’s chest whilst explaining to a distressed mum that the baby had been born and we were going to just give her a little help. Finally, after an agonising couple of seconds, we heard a muffled wet cry from underneath the oxygen mask. The ten healthcare professionals in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The baby started to have a better colour, her oxygen saturations started to increase and, slowly, her chest started to clear, sounding less wet by the second as she coughed up fluid. The birth lasted around 10 minutes in total. It was the first birth that I had watched. As I wrapped my head around it, the ENNP was already communicating to the parents what had happened and how their baby was right as rain now but if there were any wobbles she would be admitted to the NICU on the high dependency ward.
As we took pictures of a stunned new dad holding his newborn, with mum peering round his shoulders, I imagined how that scenario would have played out if the healthcare professionals had not communicated with parents about what was going on. This team had likely seen hundreds of births in the last week, but these scared parents had only experienced birth once. It forced me to reflect on a harsh reality; as paediatric nurses we need to communicate with parents as we do things, even if in the middle of an emergency. As we left the room to write notes, I vowed to work on my communication skills. I left the labour ward’s theatres a different person to the one who went in; changed by the privilege of experiencing my first birth.
A passion about children's palliative care and to explore children's experiences of chronic primary pain
Nicola Fielding, MSc, AHP, PNLP, BSc, RN (Child), RN Teacher, Lecturer in Child Health Nursing, University of Plymouth.
I am a registered children’s nurse and nursing lecturer with a clinical background in both intensive and palliative care. After qualifying in 2002, I spent seven years working in paediatric intensive care (PICU), where I developed skills and knowledge in the nursing care of critically ill children and young people. During my time in PICU, I underwent additional training and progressed to a role as junior sister and retrieval nurse. Following a move to Cornwall, I transitioned into children’s palliative care—a role that further strengthened my commitment to delivering compassionate, family-centred care.
My journey into education was driven by a passion to support and inspire the next generation of nurses. I now work in academia as a nursing lecturer and continue to develop my interest in children’s pain and palliative care. I have taken on the role of deputy programme lead for the undergraduate nursing programme and have also developed a post-registration module in children’s palliative care. In addition to my role with the ABPN, I am also part of several other research and working groups associated with my areas of expertise and research interests - pain and palliative care. I hold a Master’s degree in Clinical Education, which has enriched my teaching practice and allowed me to explore innovative approaches to learning in nursing.
Alongside my academic work, I am a registered practitioner in hypnotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming with a particular interest in the use of therapeutic techniques to support children and young people living with chronic pain and life-limiting conditions. This interest has led me to begin a PhD exploring the lived experiences of children and young people with chronic primary pain—research that aims to give a voice to children and young people and improve the way care is designed and delivered
ABPN Webinar Series
Details of our future webinars are presented below with the links for booking. It’s a simple process and it’s free, so please do look and join some fascinating sessions.
Links to our previous webinars can be found on our website
Achieving the research pillar in advanced practice using the Advanced Practice Research Toolkit (APRT)
- Date and time: 12th August 16.00-17.00 (UK time)
- Presenter: Professor Kerry Gaskin, Birmingham City University
Kerry created the Advanced Practice Research toolkit in March 2023 to:
- provide a framework for research discussions
- support advanced practitioners to ‘get started’ with research
- encourage advanced practice teams to consider their research priorities
- enable individual and team research objective setting
The toolkit is currently being piloted across 10 NHS Trusts in England, funded by NIHR Wessex ARC and will soon be available via the National Advanced Practice Faculty on the Future Learn Platform
Safe care for every newborn and every child – Patient safety from the start
- Date and time: 17th September, 16.00-17.00 (UK time)
- Chair and Presenters: Kath Evans Director of Children’s Nursing, Barts Health; BC&YP Clinical Lead, NE London Integrated Care Board; CYP Participation Champion at NHS England; Becky Platt, Children’s Nurse and Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Emergency Department, Royal London Hospital; Helen Donovan, Independent Nurse Consultant and Immunisation Specialist Nurse; Josephine Bakar, Ward Manager, Rainbow Ward, Newham Hospital.
To mark World Patient Safety Day, this interactive session will explore the role of childhood immunisations as a cornerstone of safe care for newborns and children. Our diverse panel brings together expertise from emergency care, public health nursing, and hospital-based practice to share practical insights, challenges, and strategies for promoting vaccine uptake. The session is designed for children’s nurses and student nurses and will include short presentations followed by discussion and Q&A.
“It’s the best job in the world”: 60 years of stories of nursing children
- Date and time: 23rd September, 16.00-17.00 (UK time)
- Presenters: Bernie Carter, Professor of Children’s Nursing, Edge Hill University; President of the ABPN; Katrina McNamara, ABPN Fellow
In this webinar we will share some of the stories and findings from the ABPN’s oral history project. We will talk about how we undertook the project and some of the lessons we learned. Over the course of 12 months, we collected over 100 recordings from children’s nurses who shared stories about their training/education, the roles they worked in, the challenges they faced, and the resilience of children. Our stories reflect people who commenced training in 1957 through to 2021, nurses working in clinical, management, government, voluntary, academic, research roles. Shining through all the stories is a passion for nursing children and young people and making a difference. Join us for an exciting dive into stories about children’s nursing
Pain in Young People: A New Treatment Model
- Date and time: 16th October, 16.00-17.00 (UK time)
- Presenter: Research Officer at the School of Health Sciences, Bangor University
In this session the following areas will be addressed:
- The issue of persistent pain in young people
- Developing a new model to manage persistent pain in young people
- Involving young people in research
- Evaluating the new model of persistent pain management
Why family centred care matters
- Date and time: 11th November, 16.00-17.00 (UK time)
- Presenter: Michael Tatterton, ABPN Fellow
Details to be advised – information will be added to https://www.abpn-uk.com/webinars.html in the near future
Eventbrite link: tbc
Children’s nursing in the age of AI
- Date and time: 3rd December 2025, 16.00-17.00 (UK time)
- Presenters: Dorothy Bean, Senior Clinical Lead, NHSE Transformation Directorate, Dr Siobhán O’Connor, Senior Lecturer, Kings College, London; Chris Dickson, Senior Clinical Lead at NHS Digital; Children’s digital specialist/clinical academic (tbc)
Digital transformation, data utilisation and AI is heavily represented in ‘Fit for the future: 10 Year Health Plan for England’ (July 2025). But do they deserve to be? The term ‘digital’ gets 120 mentions, data, 183, and AI gets 90+, so technology is expected to make huge impacts. In comparison nursing gets 14 mentions, nurse 29 and GP 99.
This discussion will take a real-world view of how progressive digital technologies, data and AI has, might and will impact children’s nursing in its many forms. We will consider how AI will impact children, and young people and their access to health information and care, and we’ll consider this from public health, acute and community nursing perspectives. So, whether you’re a junior or senior children’s nurse, school nurse or health visitor working as a specialist, in acute, community, private or 3rd sector, in research or leadership roles, or digital services and even social care, this session will have something for you. Bring your hopes, fears, gripes, questions and vision to the table. It will be an insightful and illuminating discussion.
Training, Education and Other News
We welcome ideas and contributions to our training, education and other news pages.
So, if you’d like to share any training or education resources and updates, please contact fiona.smith15@yahoo.com
Journal of Child Health Resources
The Journal of Child Health Care is the Association's journal. It is full of brilliant articles. It makes for great reading and a good place to publish your own papers.
Apart from great editorials and high quality peer reviewed papers, the Journal of Child Health Care produces great JCHC podcasts, hosted by Associate Editor, Liz King. These podcasts focus on authors talking about their research and the papers published in the journal.
The latest Editorial from the JCHC focuses on the dangers of nuclear weapons. Kamran Abbasi, and other leading Editors, writes an editorial titled ‘Ending nuclear weapons, before they end us’. It is an important and disturbing read.
The latest podcast is by Stephen McKeever, Liz King, Ritu Sampige and Leslie Ann Frankel and is called ‘The relationship between children’s food allergies and family mealtimes: a systematic review’
Celebrating Children and Young People’s Nursing Conference, 2025 ‘Our Present, Our Future’
18th and 19th September 2025
This conference will provide one of the largest national and international forums for children and young people’s (CYPs) nurses to collaborate and network on a range of contemporary topics relevant to their practice. A broad range of activities is planned with the aim to connect, inspire, and educate, encouraging thought provoking exchanges. Delegates will be offered the opportunity to share ideas and experiences for the present and future of the profession, meeting the needs of children, young people, and their families.
Public health and health promotion ‘Masterclasses’
The Institute of Health Promotion and Education (IHPE) in collaboration with the University of Nottingham presents a series of masterclasses.
Health Promotion in Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) Settings, 29th Sept 10:00 - 11:00 GMT
This session will explore the unique role of UEC settings in health promotion. We'll hear from experts including Professor Holly Blake, Dr. Emma Adams, Lucy Morris RN, and Hon.Prof. Dr Frank Coffey, as they discuss the implementation of SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) for alcohol misuse in UEC settings.
Reducing Inequalities in Breast Cancer Prevention & Treatment, Nov 7th 11:00 - 12:00 GMT
Professor Emma Wilson will lead this session, exploring inequalities in breast cancer prevention, treatment and care and discussing how we can improve access to prevention and treatment for all women. Click here to sign up
Making Data Count free training
A series of 10 free training modules are available to help you use data more effectively. Each module is 1 hour long and delivered remotely via Teams. Participants earn 1 CPD point and can request a certificate of attendance. Any member (globally) is able to access the training and you can request details simply by putting your e-mail address in the link below and clicking on ‘submit’ (NB no comments are required). After members have submitted their email address they will receive an invitation to join the Making Data Count Workspace on the FutureNHS Collaboration Platform. Once members have joined the Making Data Count workspace they will be able to access the training sessions from the site.
HCUK Events
As a member you can get 20% off a series of great events and conferences events that are run by HCUK.
Any suggestions?
If you know of other training or education resources and updates that maybe helpful to other ABPN members, please let us know so we can share with others in future newsletters.
Email details to fiona.smith15@yahoo.com
Education and Development Grants
RCN Foundation Grants
For details of the various grants supported by the RCN, please go to the RCN Foundation Education Grants website
Evie Dove Foundation: Supporting Children’s Nurses and Paediatric Professional Development
The Evie Dove Foundation was established in memory of Evie—a brave and spirited thirteen-year-old who faced a brain tumour with courage—was created to honour her sparkle and legacy of kindness. The Foundation offers a unique and generous opportunity for Children’s Nurses to access funded CPD that directly benefits the children and families they care for. It’s a beautiful and practical legacy—one that channels Evie’s joy, kindness, and strength into professional learning that truly makes a difference.
What They Fund: Grants and bursaries for specialist training, from clinical leadership to paediatric allergy, oncology, mental health, and more. Travel and accommodation, helping make training accessible across the UK
Why This Matters for ABPN Members: Children’s Nurses play a vital role in supporting children and families at their most vulnerable moments. With access to funded CPD, nurses can deepen their expertise, enhance their confidence, and lead improvements in care. Empowered with up-to-date knowledge and skills, Children’s Nurses can deliver more effective, kinder, and safer care—helping children not just to survive, but thrive.
How You Can Get Involved: Apply for a grant: Funding is available for all child health professionals. Grants can cover course fees, travel, and accommodation.
Spread the word: Share the Foundation’s work at your next team meeting or network event—help others discover this brilliant opportunity.
Update on policies, guidelines & reports
World Health Organisation State of the World’s Nursing report
The 2025 edition of the State of the world’s nursing provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the nursing workforce. The report features new indicators on critical areas for nursing, such as education capacity, advanced practice nursing and remuneration.
Costs and complexity in care: The real drivers of high-cost placements for children in care
Costs for placements for children in care are increasing in England, "causing significant concern and financial strain on local authorities, with little improvement in outcomes for children".
"The high needs of these young people often indicate missed opportunities for earlier intervention and previous placement instability, risking further trauma to children who have already disproportionately experienced abuse and neglect".
This report presents findings from research examining the "drivers behind high cost placements" and presents "actionable recommendations"
Fake nurse crackdown to boost public safety
New measures to make it a criminal offence for people who are not qualified as a nurse to use the title and mislead the public. Anyone misleading the public and describing themselves as a nurse without the relevant qualifications and registration will be committing a crime under new measures announced by the government to protect the title ‘nurse’ in law.
NHS England 10 year plan launched
The 10 year plan has been shaped by the experiences and expectations of members of the public, patients, partners and health and care workforce across the country, reflecting the changes that people wanted to see.
UK Children’s Commissioners unite to end legal assault of children
The four Children’s Commissioners for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland joined forces for a united push to end the defence in law permitting the legal assault of children – the ‘reasonable chastisement’ defence. No child should ever fear violence, including physical punishment, and I want to see the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill bring an end to the existing defence that allows this – the evidence from Scotland and Wales does not show parents are being unduly criminalised as a result and no good, loving parent should have anything to fear from such a change
NHSE Commissioning Framework for children and young people with cerebral palsy
The aim of the framework is to support the commissioning of high-quality services for children and young people with cerebral palsy, summarising existing guidance, help identify population need through data and provide examples of best practice.
Care Quality Commission: Children and young people's survey
The 2024 survey found that most children and young people said they had a positive experience of hospital care. But the results, published this month, also found that improvements are needed in some areas, and that parents with concerns were not always taken seriously.
Kings Fund: 10 actions the government can take to improve children’s health
Children’s health and wellbeing has seen a concerning decline in recent years, with children in the UK experiencing some of the worst health outcomes in Europe. The Kings Fund note that improving children’s health will take comprehensive effort across all of society.
Sources of support and perceptions of safety among children in England and Wales: year ending March 2024
The 10- to 15-year-olds CSEW estimated 3.5% of 10- to 15-year-olds do not currently have an adult they can trust in their life and 3.9% were suspended or excluded from school in the last 12 months. It also estimated that 48.3% had seen or heard about a violent incident involving people they knew of a similar age in the last 12 months and just over a quarter (26.2%) had seen online content showing violence between groups of young people or drug dealing.
Diagnosing and managing pneumonia in children
NICE have produced updated guidance recommending that babies and children between the ages of 3 months and 11 years with non-severe community acquired pneumonia without complications or underlying disease should be offered a 3-day rather than a 5-day course of antibiotics. This change is based on evidence that shorter antibiotic courses are equally effective and help reduce antimicrobial resistance.
‘Artificial pancreas’ transforming the lives of thousands of children and young people with type 1 diabetes
A hybrid closed loop system, also referred to as an ‘artificial pancreas’, has three parts: an insulin pump, a continuous glucose monitor (a sensor that measures glucose levels at any given moment) and an algorithm that makes them ‘talk to each other’ and adjust insulin delivery. They are managed through a smartphone app. The innovative hybrid closed loop (HCL) systems offer improved blood sugar control and can transform daily life for families managing this complex condition.
Life-limiting conditions, and palliative & end-of-life care
The National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) published a report in July about service provision and policy recommendation learning relating to children with life-limiting conditions, and palliative and end of life care. It contains five key recommendations for improvement, including calls to:
- Review commissioning arrangements to ensure access to 24-hour advice
- Ensure all bereaved families are allocated a key worker
- Ensure all named medical specialists receive and complete appropriate training
- Ensure all advance care plans contain easily accessible information on resuscitation
- Ensure timely access to essential medications needed for the delivery of end of life care at home.
UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance 2023
Maternal, Newborn and Infant Clinical Outcome Review Programme (MBRRACE-UK) report on deaths of babies in 2023 highlights that compared to 2022, stillbirth rates fell across all UK nations, while neonatal mortality rates also declined in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, it also underscores the need for targeted interventions to address disparities by socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and gestational age.
National maternity investigation launched in England to drive improvements
The rapid national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services will provide truth to families suffering harm and urgently improve care and safety, addressing systemic problems dating back over 15 years.
Patient safety healthcare inequalities reduction framework
This framework sets out 5 principles to reduce patient safety healthcare inequalities across the NHS. These principles align with the aims of NHS England’s Patient safety strategy and Core20PLUS5 approach for adults and for children and young people to address healthcare inequalities. The framework provides practical guidance for NHS teams to create inclusive, safe care environments through improved communication, staff training, better data collection, community involvement, and targeted research.
Play well: resources for health play services
The toolkit will help commissioners, service managers, health play practitioners and clinical leaders to design, plan and deliver high-quality health play services for babies, children and young people. It includes guidelines, recommended standards and a quality checklist.
New Initiative report published on youth engagement
A new report released: ‘Youth Voices: A Guide to Meaningful Youth Engagement in Mental Health Funding’, co-created with its Youth Advisory Group. This resource outlines practical steps for funders to involve young people as true partners in designing and delivering mental health solutions. The guide is accompanied by a moving anthology of personal stories from Youth Advisors, spotlighting the real-world impact of inclusive approaches.
AI doctors’ assistant to speed up appointments a ‘gamechanger’
One of the tools - ambient voice technologies (AVTs) - can transcribe patient-clinician conversations, create structured medical notes and even draft patient letters. The NHS England funded, London-wide AVT work, led by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH), has evaluated AVT capabilities across a range of clinical settings
New World Health Organization Centre for Emergency Care in Birmingham
The University of Birmingham has been designated a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Emergency and Trauma Care. The Centre is based on existing projects funded by NIHR’s Global Health Research programme, as well as other international research initiatives. It will support WHO in strengthening emergency care systems in low and middle income countries. Its work will focus on evidence-based policy, training, and system improvements aimed at reducing preventable deaths and disability globally.
This is our lives, it matters a lot.” Putting children’s rights at the heart of education {Scotland]
Work is underway to reform the education system in Scotland. Decisions are being made to change laws, policies and practice that will have an impact on children’s rights, experiences and opportunities in education now and in the future.
The report highlights the views, insights and suggestions from children and young people, ensuring that their voices are heard within the debates and discussions. One recommendation is that the Scottish Government should invest in e-learning models to give children a wider choice of subjects, and to improve access for those who would benefit from it.
NHS Wales performance and productivity: independent review
The report from the Ministerial Advisory Group on the effectiveness of current NHS Wales arrangements about planned care, diagnostics, cancer performance and urgent and emergency care. The Health Secretary accepted the 29 recommendations, including suggestions for improving waiting list management, removing unwarranted variation in treatment, using national and regional plans to establish sustainable services and enhancing leadership within NHS Wales.
Pharmacies in Wales to provide 2 new national services to treat sore throats and UTIs
The Welsh Government is investing an extra £6 million in community pharmacies to make the sore throat test and treat and the urinary tract infection (UTI) services available in 99% of pharmacies ahead of the winter. The roll-out of the services will help to give people access to free NHS care without a GP appointment and ensure the NHS maximises the skills and expertise of pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians.
New 10-year mental health and wellbeing strategy: strategy and delivery plan in Wales
The new strategy is centred on early intervention, prevention and person-centred and ensuring people are referred to the most appropriate form of support, at the right time and without delay. A key part of the transformation of mental healthcare will be open access services, with people receiving same-day support without the need for a referral. This shift has already begun with the introduction of Wales wide 111 press 2 service for urgent mental health care.
Health Inspectorate Wales: Corridor Care
Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) recognised the serious challenges posed by the need to provide care in non-configured hospital spaces across Wales and the issues for patient safety, dignity, and the overall quality of care. HIW clearly states that corridor care should not be normalised.
Wales to become world’s first ‘Marmot nation’ to tackle health inequalities
This involves adopting public health expert Sir Michael Marmot’s eight principles, which aim to eliminate unfair and avoidable differences in health which can be caused by where people live, what kind of job they do and how they are treated in society. Marmot’s principles include giving every child the best start in life and enabling all children and young people to maximise their capabilities
Roundup of Reviews & Articles
In this section we pull together a roundup of reviews and articles that have been published in the last four months.
Education for family-centred care: A qualitative study with educators of advanced practice child and family health nurses.
This study aimed to explore academics' perspectives of theoretical and practical education for family-centred care in postgraduate child and family health nursing courses.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ‘academic coordinators from six Australian universities providing child and family health nurse education.
Findings show that ‘family-centred care was embedded throughout all curricula. However, differences existed in curriculum and employer expectations’. ‘Although professional standards support family-centred care, they do not routinely guide curriculum development’. They conclude that educators should address the broader drivers of family-centred care in child and family health nursing education.
Children’s perspectives on the acceptability of medicine, how to assess acceptability and the development of the Theoretical Framework of Children’s Medicine Acceptability: a qualitative study.
This study aimed to ‘explore children’s perspectives on the acceptability of medicines and ranking scales.’
A child-centred qualitative design used ‘arts-based worksheets, an activity booklet, exploration of ranking scales and conversations between the children and with the researcher’.
Findings show that ‘children aged 5-12 years can provide clear insights into factors affecting the acceptability of medicine and child-centred ways of assessing acceptability.
These insights led to novel outcomes: a child-centred definition of the acceptability of medicine, children’s preferences in relation to ranking scales, and the Theoretical Framework of Children’s Medicine Acceptability (TF-CMA), a novel theoretically based framework that includes core aspects of medicine acceptability that have previously been over-looked’.
They conclude that ‘Involving children in acceptability research is key to understanding their perspectives on broad range of factors; cognitive and affective attitudes are key components to consider in relation to acceptability.
Future studies should consider using the TF-CMA as framework for acceptability assessment in children’s medicines. Children should be involved in designing child-friendly, engaging assessment measures.’
Gold Standard Home Nasogastric Tube Feeding for Infants and Children.
Paediatric home enteral nutrition (HEN) is becoming more common. Existing research and guidelines point to the importance of carer education. However, ongoing HEN care in the community is not well covered, and many of those caring for children with feeding tubes have insufficient training, contributing to safety incidents in paediatric HEN.
This paper presents a ‘novel gold standard for home nasogastric tube feeding for infants and children’ developed through interviews with clinicians and parents and revised in consultation with a wider group of clinicians, parents, researchers and other professionals involved in supporting families with children who tube feed.
The gold standard considers ‘NG tube feeding at home as a mealtime (rather than medical procedure) that is safe, responsive to the child's cues, and family friendly. Where weaning is expected, it also prepares the child for this’.
Difficulties in providing nursing care to children with neurodevelopmental disorders admitted to child and adolescent psychiatric units for aggressive behavior.
This study aimed to ‘elucidate the difficulties faced by nurses in providing care for children due to their aggressive behavior in these units’.
Semi-structured interviewswere conducted with nurses with over 3 years of clinical experience in child and adolescent psychiatric units.
Findings from 21 nurses, identified five categories of difficulties: ‘(1) building patient–nurse relationships, (2) encouraging behavior modification, (3) managing aggressive behavior, (4) facilitating reflection on aggressive behavior, and (5) establishing and maintaining appropriate behavior’.
They conclude that nurses face numerous challenges in providing care for children with aggressive behavior. Despite experiencing physical and mental burdens in managing aggressive behavior, nurses strive to help children achieve social adjustment’.
Draw-a-Monster: Scaffolding and nurse-child improvisations at a child health center.
This case study documents social interaction between a nurse and a 4-year-old boy during routine Draw-a-Man assessments at a child health center.
Detailed analyses illuminate how the nurse scaffolded head, legs, arms, eyes, and mouth step by step, as elements of a jointly improvised monster story. Nurse-child interaction alternated between scaffoldings and joint improvisations during the child’s drawing of a man who would ‘guard’ a monster.
The drawing was co-construed through storytelling and alignments. Divergent participation frameworks were invoked, when the child did not let go of his precious drawing, insisting on taking it home to dad, while the nurse invoked the center’s routines (archiving all drawings). This brief micro drama was resolved through whispered by-play between mother and child.
The analyses show how a drawing task is co-construed through improvisations and storytelling, and it also illuminates the role of joint performance for building we-teams and adult-child alignments.
Encountering children with suspected neurodevelopmental disorders in Child Health Services: Swedish nurses' experiences.
This qualitative study aimed to ‘describe nurses' experiences encountering children with suspected neurodevelopmental disorders in Child Health Services’.
Twenty nurses working in Sweden were remotely interviewed.
The findings show that ‘nurses expressed responsibility for finding deviations in children but described an equilibrium of giving children time to develop without delaying referrals. Nurses had profound competence and intuition, but subjective intuition of assessment evoked a feeling of uncertainty. Nurses were sensitive and open-minded to different and contradictory parental reactions.
They conclude that ‘further education for nurses about neurodevelopmental disorders and communication tools like Motivational Interviewing. Furthermore, screening for assessing neurodevelopmental disorders, guidelines in referral management and a care coordinator for multiple referrals should be implemented’.
Child-friendly healthcare: A concept analysis.
This study aimed to ‘analyze the concept of Child-friendly Healthcare (CFH) using Walker and Avant's conceptual analysis framework to clarify its meaning, attributes, and implications for clinical practice’.
‘A scoping review was conducted across multiple sources, including online dictionaries, scientific databases, and grey literature, with a focus on literature relevant to CFH’.
In total ‘37 articles were reviewed, revealing diverse definitions and interpretations of CFH across various contexts.
The concept was defined by five key attributes: (1) child interests-prioritized quality services, (2) child-friendly environments and spaces, (3) social interaction, (4) child participation, and (5) development facilitation.
The study also identified the antecedents and consequences of CFH, developed model and contrary cases, and examined empirical referents to offer a comprehensive understanding of the concept’.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children: Evolving epidemiology, immunology, symptoms, diagnostics, treatment, post-COVID-19 conditions, prevention strategies, and future directions.
This paper examines the epidemiology, immunology, symptoms, diagnostics, treatment, post-COVID-19 conditions, prevention strategies, and future directions.
Assessing the performance of Paediatric Early Warning Scores to predict critical deterioration events in hospitalised children (the DETECT study): a retrospective matched case-control study.
The aim of this study was to ‘compare the performance of seven PEWS utilised in clinical practice in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The primary outcome was occurrence of a critical deterioration event (CDE) in hospitalised children, and secondary outcome was 72-hour hospital mortality’.
‘250 patient episodes were identified over a 12-month period. Cases were matched 2:1 with controls; using age range and admitting specialty. PEWS were calculated, along with performance characteristics.’
The results show that the 'median age of patients experiencing CDE was 8 months. AUCs across all PEWS in predicting CDE, ranged from 0·87 to 0·95. Optimum cut-offs for each PEWS were identified’.
They conclude that ‘All seven PEWS assessed demonstrate excellent predictive ability for CDE, in a heterogenous cohort. For evaluation of PEWS performance, CDE is a more appropriate outcome measure than hospital mortality, due to low mortality outside PICU.
A standardised PEWS allows consistency, benchmarking and opportunity for continuing recalibration’.
Transition from pediatric to adult cardiology care in congenital heart disease: contemporary considerations.
This review builds on’ the foundation set by recent US and European consensus statements and examines the current literature regarding transition and transfer of care for patients with CHD.'
They 'present a narrative review on transition of care in CHD summarizing contemporary considerations and emphasizing a comprehensive approach’.
They conclude that there is a ‘paucity of data on the implementation and impact of interventions for short term and post-transfer outcomes of CHD patients.’
Exploring the design and impact of integrated health and social care services for children and young people living in underserved populations: a systematic review.
The objective of this systematic review was to ‘explore the evidence for interventions that integrate child health and social care and support programmes and the impact they have on child health and wellbeing’.
Sixteen eligible studies were identified.
They ‘determined three main models of delivering integrated health and social care services:
Targeted support for vulnerable groups, where the provision of packages of interventions focussed on target populations, this showed potential for decreasing the need for social support in the long-term but with limited evidence for reducing referrals into other services. These types of service were more successful in meeting specific objectives such as lower rates of smoking, and reducing repeat pregnancies;
Collaborative health and social support, which typically collocated health and social care practitioners, demonstrated improved collaborative working but with little impact on workload, job satisfaction, or service delivery; and
School centred health and social care, which were based in educational facilities and improved some aspects of CYP wellbeing and physical health but with concerns they added to teacher workload.
Impact of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza on children’s health: Evidence and recommendations for mitigation.
This narrative review ‘addresses the urgent need to synthesise the impact of the crisis on children’s health in Gaza…and focuses on ‘the impact of the war on healthcare, food insecurity, infectious diseases, children with disabilities and the psychological impact’.
The review's findings reveal that children in Gaza are ‘facing life-threatening challenges affecting all aspects of their health. There are catastrophic levels of food insecurity with high rates of malnutrition. About 60% of WASH facilities have been destroyed and infectious diseases are widespread. Children with chronic medical conditions and a disability are especially vulnerable to the hostilities.
The challenges of data collection during the war introduce uncertainty, making it difficult to fully understand the extent of harm. However, without urgent interventions, an entire generation of children are endangered and condemned to a future of ill health and suffering’.
Leveraging ChatGPT to strengthen pediatric healthcare systems: a systematic review.
The primary question guiding this systematic review is: ‘How does ChatGPT impact pediatric healthcare systems, for example, in terms of improving patient education, enhancing providers’ efficiency, and assisting with clinical decision-making?’
In total 58 papers met eligibility criteria.
Findings show that ‘ChatGPT’s primary applications were patient education, clinical decision-making, and clinical documentation. Accuracy was highest in patient education, where it generated educational materials and answered FAQs, though readability was often at a high school level, necessitating adaptation. Clinical documentation benefits included improved efficiency in drafting notes and discharge instructions. However, clinical decision-making and training showed mixed accuracy, particularly in management recommendations and patient care plans’.
They conclude that ‘ChatGPT demonstrates potential in enhancing physician efficiency and tailoring patient education in pediatric healthcare.’
Decision-making for children and adolescents: a scoping review of interventions increasing participation in decision-making.
This scoping review aimed to ‘review and synthesize the literature on interventions to facilitate shared decision-making or to increase participation in decision-making in pediatrics focusing on interventions for children and adolescents.’
In total 21 studies met the inclusion criteria. Findings show that ‘Interventions aimed to increase participation by provision of information, encouraging active participation and collaboration. Didactic strategies included digital interactive applications (n = 12), treatment protocols and guiding questions (n = 12), questionnaires or quizzes about patients’ condition or their knowledge (n = 8), visual aids (n = 4), and educational courses (n = 1).
Findings indicate positive effects on some of the investigated outcomes. However, the heterogeneity of studies made it difficult to draw consistent conclusions about the effectiveness of interventions’.
Parental experiences of primary health professional support with child health behaviours and growth: a scoping review.
This scoping review examined the experiences of parents/carers of 0–5-year-olds engaging with primary health professionals (PHPs) regarding child growth or associated health behaviours (nutrition, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep).
Eighty-seven papers (85 studies) were included.
Findings show ‘Barriers to discussing growth and health behaviours with PHPs included receiving ambiguous or conflicting advice; difficulty accessing services; and insufficient appointment time. Facilitators included personalised, timely, evidence-based advice, supported by appropriate resources, and delivered empathetically and without judgement. Studies reported positive (n = 25), moderate (n = 4), negative (n = 10), and variable (n = 34) levels of satisfaction with PHP support’.
Telehealth use in the well-child health setting. A systematic review of acceptability and effectiveness for families and practitioners.
This mixed methods systematic review aimed to explore the ‘global evidence on the use of telehealth in well-child health settings within high-income countries. Focussing on the effectiveness and acceptability of telehealth, along with the factors affecting its implementation and the considerations for safety from the perspectives of both providers and families’.
In total 20 papers were included.
Findings show that ‘Telehealth acceptability among families was reported in 13 of the 20 studies reviewed, with participants expressing high satisfaction regarding its use as a complement to standard care. Only three studies examined practitioners' acceptance, revealing mixed responses. Effectiveness was observed in 15 studies, with no significant differences found between the control and telehealth groups, suggesting that telehealth may achieve outcomes like those of standard care. Four studies identified both enablers and barriers to the implementation of telehealth, though none addressed concerns regarding safety and appropriateness’.
They conclude that ‘Telehealth shows promise for well-child health services, but there is limited evidence of its effectiveness and safety.’
IoT wearables in child health: A comprehensive scoping review and exploration of ubiquitous computing.
This scoping review aims to ‘provide an up-to-date analysis of emerging concerns and novel technologies related to vital signs and location tracking, exploring the implications of ubiquitous computing in the aspect of child health monitoring’.
Digital play and rehabilitation for children and adolescents in hospitals, outpatient departments and rehabilitation centres: A scoping review.
This scoping review aimed to ‘identify and map the characteristics of digital play for functional rehabilitation in hospital and rehabilitation settings for children and adolescents to inform researchers and clinicians.’
In total 90 studies met the inclusion criteria.
Findings show that ‘Digital play for rehabilitation was used in clinical settings, including hospitals, outpatient departments, and rehabilitation centres. Some interventions were conducted in human movement laboratories or at home.’
A conceptual framework ‘comprising five categories for gaming technologies utilizing digital play and rehabilitation was proposed: (1) traditional gaming platforms, (2) extended reality, (3) robotics and assistive technology, (4) sensors, and (5) rehabilitation systems. One hundred eighty different outcome measures used to evaluate the interventions were identified, almost one-third of which were unvalidated.
The studies generally failed to report limitations and barriers to implementation.’
Transition and Aftercare Following a Child's Discharge From ICU to a General Ward: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis of Parental Experiences.
This qualitative meta-synthesis aimed to examine the parental experiences during their children's ICU-to-ward transitions through the synthesis of original qualitative studies’.
Eighteen studies were included.
Findings show ‘four descriptive themes followed later by two analytical themes. Specifically, these were (1) the nature of the parental experience during ICU-to-ward transition (challenging but responded proactively) and (2) factors involved in the ICU-to-ward transition (both facilitators and barriers).
They conclude that ‘Healthcare providers serve as the primary support network for parents and should collaborate closely with them to facilitate a smooth transition by providing tailored support’.
Standards of care for pediatric clinical service delivery: A rapid scoping review.
The objective of this rapid scoping review was to ‘map and characterize current evidence on standards of care for integrated pediatric levels of service’.
Fifty-three sources met inclusion criteria and were included in this review.
Findings show that ‘levels of service frameworks categorized services into three, four, or six distinct levels. Eight sources described integrated levels of service.
Most pediatric standards of care frameworks defined levels of service by roles and responsibilities.
Differences were defined by transitions between levels of care, planning for services across urban and rural communities, and coordinating integrated levels of service’.
Family-centred care research in paediatrics: A scoping review.
This scoping review aimed to ‘describe FCC research for children and families in the 21st century’.
Five hundred and seventy-nine articles were included.
Findings show that ‘Most studies were conducted in acute care settings, typically in North America, and primarily included nurses or mothers as participants.
FCC was typically defined using multiple references, with several key authors identified.
Future research should focus on historically underrepresented clinical and geographical areas and include multidisciplinary team members.
Increasing cultural and familial diversity in FCC research is also necessary to ensure inclusive FCC practices that are transferrable within and between clinical and geographical settings’.
The Perspectives of Young Indigenous People on Chronic Disease Prevention Programs: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.
This systematic review of qualitative explores the ‘perspectives of Indigenous young people aged 10 to 24 on programs aimed at preventing chronic diseases, which are prevalent among Indigenous populations and tend to increase with age’.
Thirteen studies were included.
The analysis identified four key themes.
‘First, safeguarding food sovereignty emerged as a foundational priority, emphasizing access to traditional foods, nutritional needs, and food security.
Second, empowering emerging leaders through the transfer of traditional wisdom and knowledge was recognized as vital for fostering agency and influence within communities.
Third, strengthening the sociocultural fabric involved promoting community inclusion, securing community buy-in, and emphasizing the importance of elders and family involvement, alongside integrating cultural practices into health initiatives.
Fourth, navigating challenges such as disengagement due to limited health knowledge and ambiguity surrounding health trajectories highlighted barriers that need addressing’.
How children and adolescents with chronic pain describe their pain experiences: A qualitative systematic review.
The aim of this qualitative systematic review was to ‘explore how children and adolescents with chronic pain describe their pain experiences.’
Forty studies were included.
Four main themes were identified: ‘1. ‘I’m missing out because of my pain’; in which children described frustration and isolation due to missing activities. 2. ‘Things that help me to get by with my pain’; described a variety of children’s coping mechanisms. 3. ‘It hurts and no one else understands my pain’; where children felt frequently disbelieved about their pain severity, and 4. ‘I keep trying to make sense of my pain’; in which children identified ways they seek to understand the cause and possible outcomes of their pain, including accessing health care services’.
How is maternal, newborn, and child health addressed in Heat Health Action Plans? A scoping review and content analysis.
This scoping review aimed to explore how maternal, newborn, and child health is addressed in Heat Health Action Plans.
Eighty-three HHAPs were identified.
Findings show that ‘Most HHAPs identified children as a key population to protect (83%), with fewer naming pregnant individuals (52%). Even fewer mentioned newborns (39%) or postpartum and breastfeeding individuals (14%) as at-risk groups.’ Five broad activity categories were identified ‘targeting maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), with ‘informing, education, and awareness raising’ (77%) and ‘improving care in health services or school settings’ (59%) being the most common.
However, no HHAP comprehensively addressed MNCH risks during extreme heat, and monitoring mechanisms were inadequate for assessing the impact of heat on MNCH’.
Socio-Emotional Development in Young Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Scoping Review.
The aim of this scoping review was to ‘describe how socio-emotional development has been investigated in young children diagnosed with or at high risk of CP and identify knowledge gaps and areas for future research’.
Twenty-five studies were included.
Findings show that the ‘most commonly investigated areas of socio-emotional development were expressing negative emotionality, engagement in peer relationships and exploratory behaviour. Less optimal socio-emotional development was frequently reported, with prevalence estimates ranging from 14% to 65%. Socio-emotional difficulties were associated with severity of child motor disability, child delayed language abilities and parenting difficulties’.
Transition From Adolescent to Adult Care for Young People Living With HIV: A Systematic Review of Needs, Barriers, and Interventions.
This systematic review aimed to examine ‘barriers and facilitators during this transition and evaluates interventions aimed at improving the transition to adult care for YPLHIV’.
Sixty-four descriptive studies and 35 intervention studies, with 33 reporting results.
Findings show ‘Literature on YPLHIV transitioning to adult care mainly explores stakeholders' perceptions of barriers. Less than one third of studies discuss interventions, with fewer assessing their feasibility, acceptability, or efficacy’.
The review ‘highlights interventions like transition readiness assessments, protocols, skills-building, transition clinics, youth-friendly services, mobile health, and health navigation’. It reveals a ‘critical need for future randomized controlled trials to evaluate long-term outcomes and establish effectiveness in improving YPLHIV's transition outcomes.’
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