Pediatric nursing: support for family and patient with terminal illness - Research Paper Example

There is a network of difficulties, and in recognition of such situations, a number of programs, both in the national and local concerned sectors are constructed in assistance to parents and pediatric patients to cope in such health crises. On the national level, efforts redoubled in filling the gaps brought by inadequate health services and support. The United States have about 14-15% citizens (below 19 years of age) who are not covered by any health insurance policy; these families cannot afford to get one due to financial strains.

In remedy, the state formed agencies to address the issue, such as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid. In particular, several treatment options and therapeutic services, curative, palliative, and rehabilitative care, are provided. Yet, limitations are given in hospice cases, where qualifications include the life expectancy of less than a year before any children are accepted for palliative management. The said financial support is limited to individual cases, where there is hardly any supportive resources for family utilization, such as “home adaptations and cleaning…help with mortgages/rent and utilities.

help with funeral expenses, and travel expenses for families” (“Palliative Care for Children,” 2009, p. 4). There is, then, a lack of financial resources to families of pediatric clients, as priorities center on patients’ conditions. To fill the government’s shortcomings, the Chicago’s community efforts and private groups pitch in to help. An affordable health insurance for children is advocated in Illinois through the All Kids project, targeting the middle class who cannot afford costly private insurance (Quinn, 2011).

In another community strategy, the Division for Specialized Care for Children DSCC Core program is organized specifically to assist the financial burdens of extensive medical treatment of chronic pediatric conditions (DSCC The Core Program, 2010). As available programs are seen in communities’ settings, private companies also offer supportive resources. As such, “Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chigagoland and Northwest Indiana (RMHC-CNI)” supports families by providing comfortable houses in nearby hospitals, where family members stay together while their patients are admitted for treatment.

In unity, different families bond and provide each other with emotional support in crises, at the same time, some of their needs are taken care of by volunteer workers (Ronald McDonald House, 2011). The concerted efforts for financial and emotional reinforcement significantly lift the weights carried by families determined to be there for their sick children. Locally, hospital institutions acknowledge the difficulties experienced by family members. In St. Jude Children’ Research Hospital, a number of supportive strategies are constructed specifically to meet the needs of both pediatric patients and their caregivers.

Through the Child Life schemes, patients and families are guided all throughout the check-up and treatment procedures by health staff, where health education resources and related activities are accomplished for better understanding, providing foundations for acceptance and participation in supportive care systems--with “