Developing a nurse-led salbutamol weaning pathway for children and young people with asthma or viral-induced wheeze
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Developing a nurse-led salbutamol weaning pathway for children and young people with asthma or viral-induced wheeze

Kate O’Hagan Advanced nurse practitioner, general paediatrics, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, England
Annette Hall Lead advanced nurse practitioner, general paediatrics, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To recognise that, although asthma is a common long-term condition, its management can be improved through consistent and timely care

  • To learn about the development of a nurse-led salbutamol weaning pathway for children and young people with acute asthma exacerbations

  • To be aware that nurses reported improved confidence after completing a nurse-led salbutamol weaning training, education and competency package

Acute asthma exacerbations and viral-induced wheeze are common presenting complaints on one general paediatric ward in a tertiary children’s hospital in England. An inhaled beta2 agonist, such as salbutamol, is the first-line treatment for these children and young people and they have frequent clinician reviews for salbutamol weaning before discharge. However, the informal salbutamol weaning practices used by nurses, as well as challenges in the recruitment and retention of paediatric trainee doctors, led to the development of a nurse-led salbutamol weaning pathway as a quality improvement project. Twelve nurses completed the associated nurse-led salbutamol weaning training, education and competency package and subsequently completed a questionnaire exploring their perceptions of the effect of the training package and pathway. After the training, all respondents reported feeling more confident in assessing the salbutamol requirements of children with wheeze. All of the respondents also felt that the introduction of the pathway and training would improve patient care and the confidence of children and young people, parents and carers in nurses’ ability to assess children’s salbutamol requirements. Time constraints were identified as a potential barrier to implementation of the pathway.

Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2023.e1484

Peer review

This article has been subject to open peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@PaedANP_Kate_O

Correspondence

kate.o’hagan@alderhey.nhs.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

O’Hagan K, Hall A (2023) Developing a nurse-led salbutamol weaning pathway for children and young people with asthma or viral-induced wheeze. Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2023.e1484

Published online: 06 November 2023

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