Building confidence and knowledge

Practitioners may be low in confidence if they have a lack of knowledge or experience in supporting children with complex medical needs. Each condition has a different effect on the child; children with complex needs require adults around them to develop the skills necessary to support them.

Some children may need help with mobility, so physiotherapy may be needed. Children with cystic fibrosis may need chest physiotherapy to help with breathing and reduce the risk of infection. Other children with complex medical needs cannot eat food orally and need to be fed via a tube. Providing the right support for children with complex medical needs can be daunting at first, because many new skills are needed. But learning new skills can be rewarding and will help raise confidence.

Figure 5.3  A medical feeding tube

The following case study of a practitioner’s experience supporting a child with tube feeding illustrates this.