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In recent years children’s emergency admissions have risen by 18%. In 2011 a team at a city district general hospital in England recognised that children were being admitted to the general children’s ward and often only staying for short periods of time. After a review of the service a plan was put forward for the development of a paediatric short-stay observation and assessment unit. The unit has led to a reduction in ward admissions and offered opportunities for children’s nurses to extend their roles in assessment and treatment. This article explores the planning, delivery and audit of this unit and offers an exemplar for other trusts considering a similar change to service delivery.
Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2018.e1025
CitationJones T, Russell-Fisher H (2018) Development of a paediatric short-stay observation and assessment unit. Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2018.e1025
Peer reviewThis article has been subject to open peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondencetracey.m.jones@manchester.ac.uk
Conflict of interestNone declared
AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of data by Dr Clare Wilkins and the paediatric team who have been integral to the success of the service development
Published online: 08 May 2018
