Advancing medical and surgical care has cause for there to be a rapidly growing population of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD). Now that pediatric patients with CHD are living into adulthood there is a problem with the lack of transitional care these patients receive. The lack of transitional care has led to many issues that adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) patients face such as a lack of autonomy and knowledge, which contributes to an increased chance for a lapse in their care. Lapses in care lead to greater risks of heart failure, arrhythmias, morbidity, and premature death. Research revealed that there is a gap in the transitional care process for patients with CHD from the pediatric to adult healthcare setting that needs to be addressed. Nurses can aid in this process by establishing habits of independence as well as teaching CHD patients about their condition and its care requirements at a younger age. This creative project aims to educate nurses working in the pediatric cardiovascular acute care setting on ways they can aid in the transition process of patients with CHD as they grow out of the pediatric care setting and into the adult care setting in order to establish continuity of care.

The purpose of this research project is to explore the healthy sibling’s response to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. A cancer diagnosis is a life altering event that effects the ill child, the family, and more specifically sibling(s) if applicable. Over the past decade research on siblings of children with cancer has steadily increased and called for implementing the population into the pediatric oncology plan of care. A systematic literature review containing both qualitative and quantitative data was conducted in order to uncover common themes presented in existing sibling research that influence the sibling experience. A literature search was conducted utilizing EBSCOhost, SAGE journals, and CINAHL. Inclusion criteria used included English, full text, scholarly, peer reviewed, research articles, and systematic reviews, and the search was limited to publications between January 2014 to August 2019. Search results found 196 articles originally. The researcher removed duplicates and scanned the titles narrowing the literature to a total of thirteen articles. The articles included comprised literature reviews, interviews, group intervention studies, a cross-sectional study, and case-controlled design. From this systematic review, common themes that emerged included sibling demographics and characteristics, emotional/behavioral difficulties, a lost sense of self, altered family functioning, the effect of peer, family, and professional support systems, and lack of knowledge and communication. These themes can be interpreted as factors that may influence a sibling’s cancer experience. The results of this research project showed that the sibling’s experience to cancer is complex, multifaceted, and unique. These findings emphasize the need to provide siblings with adequate resources and support in an effort to mitigate the negative effects a diagnosis and treatment of cancer can bring. It is important that the entire healthcare team is competent in this care perspective so that appropriate referrals and interventions can be made, and siblings have the smoothest transition possible.

As the complexity and severity of hospitalized patients increase, nurses working in an acute care setting will experience patient deaths. From novice to expert, nurses may utilize a range of coping strategies. When the patient is a pediatric patient, the coping strategies become critical. The purpose of this study is to explore the coping strategies used by novice and expert nurses when a pediatric patient dies. The second objective is to compare the coping strategies used by novice and expert nurses. The final objective is to determine if nurses feel nursing school and employee training prepared them for the death of a pediatric patient. Research has shown that nurses use many different coping strategies when faced with a patient's death (Abdullah, 2015; Kellogg, Baker, & McCune, 2014; Plante & Cry, 2011). Expert nurses who have years of experience should have more options for coping strategies than novice nurses, yet there is little evidence to support this. This qualitative descriptive study used structured in-depth interviews to explore the coping strategies of pediatric nurses when experiencing a patient's death. Using thematic analysis, transcripts of the interviews were coded such that themes emerged. Themes for novice nurses were compared to expert nurses. These themes were also placed into concepts that encompassed many similar themes. The findings help determine that there is a difference in the coping mechanisms used by novice and expert nurses, and there is a need for more education on coping strategies after the death of a pediatric patient.