RESEARCH THAT BENEFITS CHILDREN AND FAMILIES--UPLIFTING STORIES

Numerical rating scales (NRS) involve estimates of pain shown to children to describe their pain levels. These pain scales are used in children over the age of 8 years. At this age the children can verbalize and clearly and have the ability to think and decide. There are many of these pain scales. Many of the scales have not been researched thoroughly. As a pediatric nurse, I used these scales frequently and responses were usually valid. Here is an example of a pain scale:

.........Pain Research and Management. National Institute of Health. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC253905/

MY PERSONAL RESEARCH JOURNEY

I've decided to research the effects of death of a child's pets and/or loved one. I also want to research how I as a caregiver/educator can assist with teaching coping skills to children. So far I have learned that reputable websites most often end in edu, org, or gov. I will be very careful in choosing the sites I pick for my research information. I do not know anyone who has done this research before. I think it is an important topic because death strikes everyone regardless of age. Qualitative research will be done to show the meaning or significance of death and it's affect on children ages 5-13 years old. I will take a qualitative approach to learn how children understand and make sense of the topic. Do any of my colleagues have any insights or advice dealing with this subject? Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

FINAL BLOG ASSIGNMENT

The first consequence I learned was that education is our primary focus, while countries like Kenya have childhood education and other concerns for their children. In Kenya the educators have incorporated water purification and the children education together. The children live in houses without running water or toilets. The water was muddy. The children and teachers purified the water together. The children have acquired skills and improved their self esteem. We have hardships in America but our water supply is not damaged. Other countries have education as an obstacle along with other issues at times. In America at least we can concentrate on the education needed for our children......www.OMEP-USNC.org Another consequence I have learned is that children do have advocates like Hillary Clinton and Marion Wright Edelman. The sad part is that most of children's advocates are women and the government is made up of mostly men. Possibly children's advocates are not heard loudly or understood. Another consequence was that unfortunately as hard as I tried I couldn't get an ECE professional from another country to correspond with me. I was kind of disappointed at first because I was so hyped at the prospect of networking and learning new things about the International Child Resource Institute and its child abuse prevention curriculum. Educators become trained in child abuse detection, intervention and prevention all for the safety of the children....www.icrichild.org/Kenya. One goal for the early childhood field is to come together globally , discuss and make educated solutions on how to effectively educate our children, develop strategies and collaborate together continuously through seminars and workshops. Two heads are better than one and more than two is excellent!