Respiratory assessment is a key area in all aspects of children’s nursing, not just in respiratory nursing.  Therefore, you will care for children with respiratory conditions in a general medical ward, general children’s ward or children’s emergency department placement, not just on a placement on a respiratory ward.

Before you go on such a placement, it will be helpful for you to:

• Revise and refresh your skills in respiratory assessment.
• Revise the respiratory system.

Things to familiarise yourself with:

• Common respiratory illnesses.
• NICE guidelines for Bronchiolitis in Children: Diagnosis and Management.
• Types of oxygen therapy and delivery systems.
• Normal and adventitious breath sounds.
• Signs of respiratory distress in infants and children.

The following is placement advice from Sarah, a children’s nursing student:

‘Having recently started placement on a general medical ward I have begun to gain confidence in administering respiratory support. It is really important to get your head around the different flow rates and the different amounts of oxygen administered, as this can be confusing to begin with, but once you’ve got it then it all makes sense. I have found the key to each method is to set it up yourself, as opposed to just watching your mentor do it. This hands-on approach has helped me to get to grips with methods such as optiflow, CPAP, nasal cannula, and a non-rebreathe facemask. Each one has different benefits and uses so it is also important to understand when and why to use each one.’