Continuing Nursing Education
Does Your Facility Have a Pediatric Sedation Team? If Not, Why Not?
Carrie L. Davis
Children’s
hospitals across the country should consider the formation of pediatric
sedation teams (PSTs) for both in-patient and outpatient pediatric
procedures. As specialization increases and parents become more in-tune
to available options, teams that focus on the alleviation of pain and
providing a more pleasant procedural experience will become
increasingly important to parents when choosing a facility. Regarding
facility benefits, PSTs can assist to improve both patient and parent
satisfaction, and allow for the relocation of procedures to ambulatory
care settings or alternative pediatric inpatient suites. PSTs can
also improve cost effectiveness when sedation is involved by
decreasing the overall length of stay in procedure rooms and recovery
areas, decreasing complications related to less experienced providers
of pediatric sedation, and also decreasing incomplete procedure rates.
Parents can be attracted by such specialized teams, viewing them as a
sign of organizational excellence in the care of children’s health.
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