If you’re a pediatric nurse providing in-home care for younger patients, communication is one of your most important functions. You need to make patients comfortable so they’ll allow you to provide them with sufficient care. This can be a bit tricky when working with kids, especially since receiving pediatric home care can often be a fairly scary or stressful situation. Here are some communication tips to help you provide the best possible care.

How to Effectively Communicate When Providing Pediatric Home Care Service

1. Personalize Communication to Each Patient

For people of any age, communication comes down to finding ways to relate and connect. This is especially important when communicating with young people. Start by finding out as much about each patient beforehand. Call them by name and ask questions about their favorite colors, cartoons, and family activities. Each time you visit, you can bring up some of those things you’ve talked about in the past to continually build up trust and rapport over time. You can even integrate fun surprises, like wearing scrubs with their favorite cartoon characters on them one day.

2. Go Down to Their Level

To provide the most effective care possible, you need to make them as comfortable as possible. Squatting or sitting down when you talk to them can make them feel more like they’re having a friendly conversation and less like they’re in a scary or stressful medical situation. It can also help to smile and tell them how brave and strong they’re being.

3. Let Them Be Involved

Children love to be helpful, so find ways for them to be involved in their own care whenever possible. It could be as simple as having them hold a small bandage until you’re ready to use it. You can also phrase basic requests slightly differently to make it seem like they’re helping you. For example, “would you help me out by opening your mouth really wide so I can take a look?”

If you’re a nurse or pediatric home care professional looking to care for patients throughout White Plains, NY or Westchester County, check out J&D Ultracare. The nursing staff agency connects professional home health care workers with families in need of in-home care for their children. They provide extensive vetting and training to ensure that each pediatric nurse provides the best possible care to their patients. You can learn more about career opportunities on the company’s website or call (845) 357-4500 to speak with a team member about nursing jobs or home care needs.