Commentary on Coyne I (2006) Consultation with children in hospital: children, parents' and nurses' perspectives. Journal of Clinical Nursing 15, 61-71.

摘要

This study by Coyne (2006) used data collected from 11 children, 10 parents and 12 nurses from four paediatric wards in England. Using data from participant observation and interviews, it was found that both parents and children felt that children should be consulted about their care. Interestingly, however, Coyne's study found that nurses underused children's views on the care provision. Some nurses only sought children's views where they considered the child to be cognitively mature and 'rational'. This last does appear to be an important cultural obstacle to the acceptance of children as fully fledged 'people'. In the same way, the flawed notion that adults are fully rational does in its turn present an obstacle to understanding ourselves.Coyne's study exposes a rift between politics and practice. Children are supposed to be consulted even whenunable to problem solye in an adult fashion (see Department of Health 1989, Hogg 1990, 1996, Department of Health 2003). Readers of the nursing literature could be excused for believing that this was actually happening (see Flatman 2002, Stafford et al. 2003, Sutcliffe et al. 2004). However, Walker (2001) suggested that professionals often consider guidance that children should be consulted because they are rational to be misguided and undermining of parental authority. Any study of nursing history will inform us that politics and practice have always been uncomfortable bedfellows. Reports are often produced out of any passing whim but cultural change (nursing and social) is often protracted and indifferent to political interference.