About APEM

Staff Information (Nurses)

Nurses

The nurse trained in paediatric A+E care is one of the most scarce & thus most valuable commodities in the NHS today.

Children's nursing levels in many units fall seriously below those recommended by national bodies & reports.

The Clothier report recommended trusts provide a minimum of 2 registered sick children's nurses (RSCN) on duty wherever children are nursed.

The Presence of at least one RSCN nurse in an A+E receiving children has been made many times by the RCPCH, DoH & consumer groups.

The RCN currently stipulates:

• Each trust develops strategies to recruit and train sufficient children's nurses
• A children's nurse with A+E experience should be employed at senior level (sister/charge nurse). They lead in development of paediatric care in A+E, policy setting and education. This incorporates supervision of A+E, and liaison with in-patient paediatric nursing staff.
• All staff involved in providing care for children should receive specific training in communcation with children and families, child protection, and equipment/ drugs for resus & analgesia.