"Blood tests"

My son is 4years old. He has a chronic illness. Due to his condition & bloods being miss placed he has had to endure a lot of blood tests in the last 10mths. The outcome of which resulted in him developing a phobia to needles. He would get very emotional & stressed at the anticipation of giving bloods. 

He was recently put on combination therapy which requires weekly bloods for 8 weeks & a isolation period of 6 weeks. Due to the isolation period the children’s community nursing team for Craigavon & Banbridge started to call to the house to do the weekly bloods.

The difference of nurses calling to the house versus him going to the local surgery or hospital is incredible. On the first day he was tearful, but the nurses were very patient & kind toward him. They engaged with him, chatting to him about his toys & addressing his concerns directly in a manner he could understand. They did not put him under undue pressure. Instead they timed the introduction of taking the blood by following his lead. 

It is very difficult to put into words the difference this service made. Prior to this it was rare to have a positive experience. It wasn’t uncommon to encounter medical staff who simply did not want to take blood from a young child as this was not within their comfort zone or had no time or interest in engaging with him, which I used to find extremely frustrating. 

Young children do have special needs which should be considered. To throw them into an adult environment such as a nurses station at a GP surgery is not ideal. It often contributes to other health issues which are difficult to reverse such as anxiety. This indirectly creates issues for other care providers.

I strongly believe that the  community children nurses should be able to facilitate in the taking of bloods from young  children as part of normal practice. Especially for children displaying anxiety or concerns when being asked to give blood.

Currently within GP services there is a huge emphasis put on assigning a time slot for patients, with no consideration for the problems this creates. By allowing staff to come to the patient & to spend time with them actually improves long term efficiencies. It indirectly promotes health & well being. 

Due to these home visits my child has turned a corner. It has been noted by his team in the hospital & has greatly helped him to be able to have his infusions at hospital without being extremely upset. 

The community children’s nursing team have a unique skill set, something which all young patients should be able to easily gain access to. 

Until recently I did not know this service existed. It is invaluable & should be strongly promoted as a service which can help families by supporting young people. 

The NHS do not combine children’s & adult  health services in a hospital environment. I’m therefore confused as to why they do in the local community such as at a GP surgery.  Paediatric’s is a specialist area. The children’s nursing team are a huge asset to the NHS. It is a resource which should be tapped into & used frequently. 

My young son loves to see his nurse arrive. He jumps up & down shouting she is here. That in itself speaks volumes.