Maternal-Newborn & Paediatric Nursing · Chapter 12

The Deteriorating Child

Children compensate brilliantly and then fail suddenly. Follow three children as the findings escalate hour by hour and decide at each step; read a rhythm strip that separates sinus tachycardia from supraventricular tachycardia; and run the digoxin hold parameters before a dose leaves the room. Every wrong answer explains what it would have cost.

On the ward

Which child?

Choose a childThe findings will escalate as you decide

Waiting

Pick a case on the left.

Paediatric arrest is usually the end of respiratory or circulatory failure rather than a sudden electrical event — so the resuscitation priority is oxygenation and ventilation, and compressions begin at a heart rate under 60 with poor perfusion, not at zero.