Paediatric Nursing Education and Training Framework
Paediatric Nurses provide evidence-based, child and family centred care to assess, plan, implement and evaluate care to infants and neonates, children, young people and their family’s and/or carers across acute care and community environments.
Developed by the Health Education and Training Institute (HETI) in partnership with the Nursing and Midwifery Office and expert paediatric nurses and educators, the Framework is intended to be used to identify the values, behaviours and skills required for the nursing workforce to deliver safe paediatric care in acute hospital settings.
More about the Framework
The Paediatric Nursing Education and Training Framework has been developed through extensive consultation with paediatric nursing representatives from NSW Health Local Health Districts and Specialty Health Networks. The Framework promotes a standardised, evidence based and consistent approach to paediatric nursing education and training, which aims to facilitate the development of clinical judgement and decision-making skills within the context of Child and Family Centred Care.
The Framework is aligned to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Registered Nurse Standards for Practice (2016), which outlines the generic competencies and practice standards expected of registered nurses providing care to any individual. In addition, the Framework is applicable to Enrolled Nurses (ENs) for those elements that are within the EN scope of practice. The skills and capabilities outlined in the Framework apply across the paediatric nursing career continuum and encompass the care provided by paediatric nurses across acute hospital-based services
Seven Capability Domains of the Framework
The capability domains and clinical competencies have been thematically identified from a rapid literature review and Statewide consensus survey. Further refinement of the framework was completed in partnership with the Nursing and Midwifery Office and expert paediatric nurses and educators. This process resulted in the generation of seven capability domains containing 56 capabilities and clinical competencies.
- Legal and Ethical Practice focuses on capabilities that support the delivery of legal and ethical paediatric nursing care.
- Principles of Care focuses on capabilities that support key approaches to care and foundational principles underpinning paediatric nursing practice.
- Evidence-based Clinical Practice focuses on capabilities and clinical skills that support clinical nursing practice and decision making in the paediatric care environment.
- Communication & Documentation focuses on capabilities that support effective verbal and non-verbal communication and contemporaneous documentation.
- Quality Improvement & Research focuses on capabilities that quality improvement and research activities that seek evolve and embed contemporary paediatric nursing practice.
- Leadership & Management focuses on capabilities that support inter-professional teamwork, nursing leadership and management in paediatric environments.
- Professional Practice focuses on capabilities that support professional paediatric nursing practice and commitment to life-long learning.