| Learning Objective #1: Discuss how the development of community partnerships results in both nursing educational opportunities and valuable service to the community | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Identify how research questions evolve from daily clinical practice settings and experiences |
Children with chronic health problems make up 10 - 15 percent of the pediatric population in the United States. (Folden & Coffman, 1993) Approximately 11 percent of these children have limited abilities to perform routine activities of daily living and thus require special/extensive care. (Bureau of Census, 1994) Many families with children with special needs find themselves overwhelmed by demands of caring for their child. Without community support, the day to day demands of care giving may exhaust, or possibly destroy, a family (Sokol, 1995). Respite care is one community service that can assist families with children with special needs. Saint Mary's College Department of Nursing has developed a pediatric respite program to assist these families. Multiple community partnerships have contributed to the success of the Pediatric Respite Program. As community demands for respite services increased, a community assessment was conducted regarding the need for pediatric respite care. Findings demonstrated a lack of and need for respite services. Assessment results are being utilized to expand the current pediatric respite care program. Additional community partnerships are being explored and further research questions are being examined.
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