Child-Centred Nursing

Bernie Carter is Professor of Children’s Nursing at the University of Central Lancashire and Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom. She is a Clinical Professor at the University of Tasmania and Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Child Health Care. She was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in recognition of her contributions to the field of children’s pain.Bernie’s research and writing focuses on children’s pain experiences and the assessment of children’s pain. She is particularly interested in improving the lives of children with complex health care needs and life limiting/threatening illness. Bernie′s research work draws particularly on narrative and appreciative inquiry and on arts-based methods as a means of engaging with children and eliciting stories of their experiences, hopes, beliefs and concerns. Bernie believes that stories are at the heart of the connections we make with children, families and their experiences of pain.Lucy Bray is a Reader at Edge Hill University and Alder Hey Children′s NHS Foundation Trust, UK.  Annette Dickinson is a Senior Lecturer at AUT University, New Zealand.  Maria Edwards is a Research Sister at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK.  Karen Ford is an Assistant Director of Nursing at the Royal Hobart Hospital, and a Clinical Senior Lecturer, University of Tasmania, Australia.

• Approaches to Nursing Children, Young People and their FamiliesChildren’s and Young People’s Position and Participation in Society, Health Care and ResearchConsulting and Informing Children and Young PeopleChildren and Young People Having Choices and Making Health DecisionsHow Settings Shape Children’s and Young People’s CareUnderstanding Children’s and Young People’s Experiences of IllnessExamining Practice: Improving the Care of Children and Young PeopleClosing Thoughts: Celebrating Success and Aspiring for Better

As would be expected of a book by Bernie Carter and her team, this book is highlighted by insight, clarity and advocacy for children. The book’s pattern of providing a case scenario as a reference point for each discussion is a good one, as is the critical thinking exercise which accompanies each chapter. Carter is well known for her sensitivity and her insistence that children are their own agents, and this comes through strongly in the book. The book benefits from the range of authors who are able to bring perspectives from across a wide spectrum. I would recommend the book highly to children’s and young people’s nurses, students of paediatrics, and other health professionals who are interested in the wellbeing of children across all health care and research settings. It will also be good for children and parents who want an insight into what is needed when a child is using a health service of any kind.