30-Second Head-to-Toe tool in pediatric nursing: cultivating safety in handoff communication.

Efforts to improve handoff practices among providers during shift changes are needed to augment patient safety, particularly among pediatric patients. To this aim, nurse faculty developed and enhanced a tool to standardize a thinking process for students during their pediatric clinical experience. The 30-Second Head-to-Toe checklist allows for rapid assessment of a child's condition and environment.

Recognizing and diagnosing abdominal migraines.

Abdominal migraine affects 1% to 4% of children and is a variant of migraine headaches. Onset is seen most often between the ages of 7 to 12 years, with girls affected more often than boys. Presenting symptoms include acute incapacitating non-colicky periumbilical abdominal pain that lasts for 1 or more hours.

Scurvy: forgotten but definitely not gone.

Scurvy, a disease of vitamin C deficiency, is purportedly rare in the United States yet frequently may be misdiagnosed. Presenting symptoms include bone pain, limping, rashes, or spongy bleeding gingiva. These symptoms mimic many other disorders, which often results in numerous unnecessary, invasive, and expensive procedural investigations.

Accurately diagnosing commonly misdiagnosed circular rashes.

Rashes are common in the pediatric population yet can be quite problematic for nurse practitioners to diagnose. A thorough history and physical examination, along with some simple procedures, will aid in identifying these skin conditions. Four cases are presented, which may initially prove challenging to diagnose, and symptoms are categorically examined to arrive at the accurate diagnoses.

Accurately diagnosing commonly misdiagnosed circular rashes.

Rashes are common in the pediatric population yet can be quite problematic for nurse practitioners to diagnose. A thorough history and physical examination, along with some simple procedures, will aid in identifying these skin conditions. Four cases are presented, which may initially prove challenging to diagnose, and symptoms are categorically examined to arrive at the accurate diagnoses.

Pediatric health care providers' knowledge of pulse oximetry.

Pulse oximetry monitors have become so commonplace in acute health care settings over the last decade that blood oxygen is now considered a "fifth" vital sign. This study assessed the knowledge base related to pulse oximetry technology and clinical interpretation of the data given. A total of 68 participants--nurses, respiratory therapists, and resident physicians at a large general pediatric unit of a children's hospital--completed a survey of open-ended questions.