Using your past and present experience of nursing practice settings consider situations where you have helped to care or interact with children.

Whilst on clinical placement, in Critical Care, I cared for a male patient who had a 9 year old daughter with Cystic Fibrosis. The girl will be referred to as Ellie throughout this essay, in order to maintain confidentiality, as recommended by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2002). Ellie has a 5 year old brother and an 11 year old sister and lives with her mum and dad. Her dad was my patient and had been admitted to Critical …

…that I learnt more from her! Ellie's family had researched the illness at great lengths and had kept abreast of any new information. Even though it was Ellie's dad that I was looking after, I was still very much involved with Ellie. Nursing in Critical Care is one-to-one, so ultimately you do become involved with the whole family. I really enjoyed this aspect as you felt like you got to know more about the patient.