PLOS ONE Medicine&Health

Commonalities and distinctions of pediatric patient and family engagement in clinical care, education, and research contexts: Protocol for a scoping review

by Brooke Allemang, Francine Buchanan, Pranshu Maini, Dalya Kablawi, Lin Li, Linda Nguyen, Kimberly Courtney, Jessie Cunningham, Carla P. Southward, Kristin Cleverley, Sarah Munce, Alene Toulany

Pediatric patient and family engagement is an active and collaborative process, that involves children, adolescents, and family members with lived experience contributing to the design, implementation, and evaluation of healthcare services. Prior studies have highlighted the patient engagement methods and impact in clinical care, education, and research. However, gaps remain in understanding the commonalities and distinctions of engagement approaches, patient/family partner roles, and outcomes in clinical care, education, and research contexts. Further, research examining the nuances of pediatric patient and family engagement within healthcare delivery, education, and research in pediatric institutions is needed to streamline efforts.

This scoping review will identify the commonalities of and distinctions between pediatric patient and family engagement in clinical care, education, and research contexts in pediatric healthcare institutions.

A scoping review, conducted in collaboration with a team of adolescent, young adult, and family partners, will allow us to systematically map out key concepts, evidence, and knowledge gaps regarding pediatric patient and family engagement in clinical care, education, and research. We will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute framework in the design and conduct of the review and guidance on engaging knowledge users within scoping reviews. The protocol for this scoping review has been registered with the Open Science Framework database (https://osf.io/63qx5).

This study will describe the engagement types, approaches, and outcomes of pediatric patient and family engagement employed within clinical care, education, and research settings, highlighting commonalities and distinctions across contexts. In doing so, it will identify potential opportunities for collaboration and resource-sharing based on the context of engagement and provide needed clarity on streamlining pediatric patient and family engagement approaches within pediatric institutional settings.

It is anticipated that the results will produce preliminary evidence of relevance to pediatric institutions seeking to consolidate engagement practices across clinical care, education, and research domains.

Journal of Clinical Nursing

Scoping review of systematic reviews of nursing interventions in a neonatal intensive care unit or special care nursery

Abstract

Aim(s)

To identify, synthesise and map systematic reviews of the effectiveness of nursing interventions undertaken in a neonatal intensive care unit or special care nursery.

Design

This scoping review was conducted according to the JBI scoping review framework.

Methods

Review included systematic reviews that evaluated any nurse-initiated interventions that were undertaken in an NICU or SCN setting. Studies that reported one or more positive outcomes related to the nursing interventions were only considered for this review. Each outcome for nursing interventions was rated a ‘certainty (quality) of evidence’ according to the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations criteria.

Data Sources

Systematic reviews were sourced from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence Synthesis for reviews published until February 2023.

Results

A total of 428 articles were identified; following screening, 81 reviews underwent full-text screening, and 34 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Multiple nursing interventions reporting positive outcomes were identified and were grouped into seven categories. Respiratory 7/34 (20%) and Nutrition 8/34 (23%) outcomes were the most reported categories. Developmental care was the next most reported category 5/34 (15%) followed by Thermoregulation, 5/34 (15%) Jaundice 4/34 (12%), Pain 4/34 (12%) and Infection 1/34 (3%).

Conclusions

This review has identified nursing interventions that have a direct positive impact on neonatal outcomes. However, further applied research is needed to transfer this empirical knowledge into clinical practice.

Implications for the profession and/or patient care

Implementing up-to-date evidence on effective nursing interventions has the potential to significantly improving neonatal outcomes.

Patient or public contribution

No patient or public involvement in this scoping review.