Background: Pediatric obesity is a serious health issue, with an exceedingly high prevalence, having both short and long-term consequences. The Family Lifestyle Program (FLP) provides treatment services to families struggling with pediatric overweight and obesity living in the Winnipeg Health Region. Purpose: To determine whether caregivers’ nutrition knowledge and/or their attitudes about nutrition change as a result of attending the family group education sessions of the FLP. Methods: In this quantitative exploratory research, 17 caregivers (68% female) attended at least four out of five family group education sessions and completed a self-administered survey over three time periods of the program intervention, spanning approximately eight weeks from Time 1 to Time 3. Results: Caregiver nutrition knowledge did not change. Significant changes in three of the four attitude measures across three time periods were observed, related to caregiver attitudes toward their child’s and their own eating habits, program specific nutrition content (label reading and meal planning), and the perceived effort in providing foods to family and in role modelling of healthy behaviours to family members. Conclusions: The family group education sessions assisted the caregivers apply nutrition knowledge through participation in the program intervention, to improve their confidence with following healthy eating principles and role modelling these behaviours to their family members.

The Winnipeg Children’s Hospital encounters delays within the surgical patient flow and cancellations due to a lack of available resources in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Applying the concepts of lean thinking and the practices of simulation and statistical analysis, these problems were better understood and solutions were developed. Improvement projects were performed centralized on lean concepts and utilizing the tools of value-stream mapping and 7 forms of waste. Building and running a simulation model provided a capacity versus demand measure for the overall performance of the PICU. Simulation allowed for the study of hypothetical situations such as varying department resources and fluctuating patient levels. Statistical calculations were used to create a prediction tool to determine the probability of a PICU bed being available. This would enable a reduction in last-minute cancellations of surgical cases requiring a PICU bed.

This project was designed to investigate the ability of newborn infants to respond to surgical stress and to consider alternative methods of anaesthetic management in view of their hormonal and metabolic response. Concentrations of blood metabolites (glucose, lactate, pyruvate, alanine, acetoacetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, glycerol, non-esterified fatty acids, triglycerides) and plasma hormones (insulin, glucagon, noradrenaline, adrenaline, aldosterone, corticosterone, cortisol, 11-deoxycorticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, cortisone) were measured in blood samples drawn before and after surgery, at 6, 12 and 24 hours postoperatively. Urinary total nitrogen and 3-methylhistidine/ creatinine ratios were measured for 3 days postoperatively. Peri-operative management was standardised and severity of surgical stress was assessed by a scoring method. In a preliminary study of 29 neonates, substantial hormonal and metabolic changes demonstrated the ability of neonates to mount a stress response to surgery. Compared to adult responses, the magnitude of these changes was greater but their duration was remarkably short-lived. Significant differences were found between preterm and term neonates, and between neonates given different anaesthetic management. Randomised controlled trials were designed for studying the effects of : (1) halothane anaesthesia in 36 neonates undergoing general surgical procedures, (2) fentanyl anaesthesia in 16 preterm neonates undergoing ligation of patent ductus arteriosus, (3) high-dose fentanyl anaesthesia in 13 neonates undergoing cardiac surgery. On comparing the responses of neonates within each trial, the stress response of neonates given halothane or fentanyl anaesthesia was diminished; their : (a) catecholamine responses were decreased or abolished, (b) glucocorticoid responses were suppressed, (c) changes in blood glucose and gluconeogenic precursors were decreased, (d) postoperative analgesic requirements were reduced, and (e) their clinical condition after surgery was more stable. The neonatal response was related to the severity of surgical stress, as assessed by the scoring method. Thus, hormonal and metabolic changes following surgery in preterm and term neonates are distinctly different from those of adult patients; the lack of adequate anaesthesia may cause an accentuation of the stress response.

Teething, a common subject of discussion among nursing mothers has been held responsible for a variety of childhood ailments by both health professionals and parents. It appears to be a social construct coined by society to express the experience the child goes through during early days of childhood. Teething to the dental profession is the biological expression of tooth movement, in a predominantly axial direction, from the tooth's developmental position within the jaws to its emergence in the oral cavity. Several studies have reported both health professionals and parents to attribute local and systematic disturbances to the eruption of the primary dentition. The mothers experience and understanding of teeting have not been reported on. The aim of this study was therefore to explore the mothers experience of their child's teething. The objectives of the study were to determine what mothers understood by the term teething / to establish the signs and symptoms mothers associate with teething / to ascertain the treatment sought by mothers for their child's teething / to investigate how mothers in different setting understand and respond to teething.

Background: The number of children under the age of five who dies of malaria per thousand births is sixteen in Tanzania. Even though improvements have been made there are still many challenges in the care of malaria infected children. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences that nurses and relatives to malaria infected children have regarding the pediatric malaria care at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Tanzania. Method: Semi structured interviews were conducted among three nurses and three relatives to malaria infected children within a pediatric ward at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Tanzania. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and then analysed. Result: All the nurses agreed that the major challenge in the care of malaria infected children is the lack of knowledge from the relatives about prevention of malaria. This results in a lack of adherence among the relatives concerning prevention. The relatives agreed about their lack of knowledge about malaria and they wished for more education. They also considered the workload to be an issue for the nurses at the ward. The availability for the child to get treatment depends whether they are from a rural area or city. Conclusion: To continue the fight against malaria among children it is of great importance to focus on the relatives lack of knowledge about malaria, the workload issue and the long distance to hospital.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2007. / Prepared for: Dept. of Health Administration. Bibliography: leaves 175-186.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Community Medicine, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 215-236).

Thesis (M.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Paediatrics, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 287-310).

Thesis (MHSc--Health Science) -- AUT University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (iv, 190 leaves ; 30 cm.) in the Archive at the City Campus (T 618.9200231 SYE)

Thesis (M Nursing)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2008. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sandra Kuntz. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-89).