This document provides an introduction to pediatric nursing, including definitions of key terms like child and paediatrics. It discusses children's rights in India, which are protected by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Ten basic child rights are outlined, as well as India's National Policy for Children. The document also notes differences between children and adults that are important for nursing, such as children having less blood volume and thinner skin. It concludes by listing several important legislations pertaining to children's rights in India.

1. Mr. Surendra Sharma
Associate Professor
Amity College of Nursing
INTRODUCTION TO PEDIATRIC NURSING

2. DEFINITION OF CHILD
 A young human being below the age of puberty
or below the legal age of majority.
 A child means every human being below the age
of 18 years unless, under the law applicable to
the child, majority is attained earlier.

3. CHILD’S HEALTH
 Children’s health encompasses their physical,
mental, emotional and social well-being children
from infancy through adolescence.

4. Paediatrics
 The branch of medicine concerned with the
development, care and disease of babies and
children

5. Paediatric Nursing
 Paediatric Nursing is the branch of nursing
concerned with the care of infants and children.

6. CHILD RIGHTS IN INDIA
The National Commission for Protection of
Child Rights (NCPCR) was set up in March 2007
under the Commission for Protection of Child
Rights Act, 2005, an Act of Parliament (December
2005). The Commission’s Mandate is to ensure
that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and
Administrative Mechanisms are in consonance
with the Child Right's perspective as enshrined in
the Constitution of India and also the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child.

7. Need for Child Rights
 Because of their social, economic or even
geographical location, some children are more
vulnerable than others and need special attention.
These children are:
 Homeless children (pavement dwellers,
displaced/evicted, refugees, etc.)
 Migrant children
 Street and runaway children
 Orphaned or abandoned children
 Working children
 Child beggars
 Children of prostitutes

8.  Trafficked children
 Children in jails/prisons
 Children affected by conflicts
 Children affected by natural disasters
 Children affected by HIV/AIDS
 Children suffering from terminal diseases
 Disabled children
 Children belonging to the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes

9. Ten Basic Child Rights in India
 Right to develop in an atmosphere of affection,
security and protection against all forms of
neglect, cruelty, exploitation and traffic.
 Right to enjoy the benefits of social security.
 Right to name and nationality.
 Right to free and compulsory elementary
education for all children in the age group of 6–14
years.
 Right to full opportunity for play and recreation.

10. Ten Basic Child Rights in India
 Right to be protected from any hazardous
employment till the age of 14 years.
 Right to special treatment, education and appropriate
care for handicapped children.
 Right to be among the first to receive protection and
relief at the time of disaster.
 Right to be protected from being abused and forced
by economic necessity to enter occupations unsuited
to their ages or strength.
 Right to equal opportunities and facilities to develop in
a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and
dignity and guaranteed protection of childhood and
youth against exploitation and against moral and
material

11. Other rights
 Right to equality.
 Right against discrimination.
 Right to personal liberty and due process of law
to being protected from being trafficked and
forced into bonded labour.
 Right of weaker sections of the people to be
protected from social injustice and all forms of
exploitation.

12. NATIONAL POLICY FOR CHILDREN
 The National Policy for Children was adopted on
22nd Aug, 1974. This Policy lays down that the
State shall provide adequate services towards
children, both before and after birth and during
the growing stages for their full physical, mental
and social development.

13. NATIONAL POLICY FOR
CHILDREN
 National Plan of Action for Children 2005 of
Women and Child Development has prepared a
National Plan of Action for Children 2005 after
harmonizing the goals for children set in the UN
General Assembly Special Session on Children
held in 2002 and the proposed targets set in the
Tenth Five-Year Plan, and goals for children in
related Ministries/Departments.

14. National Policy For Children Basis of
Eight Parameters.
 Reduce IMR to below 30 per 1000 live births by
2010.
 Reduce Child Mortality Rate to below 31 per 1000
live births by 2010.
 To reduce Maternal Mortality Rate to below 100
per 100,000 live births by 2010.
 Universal equitable access and use of safe
drinking water and improved access to sanitary
means of excreta disposal by 2010.

15.  100 per cent rural population to have access to
basic sanitation by 2012.
 To eliminate child marriages by 2010
 To eliminate disability due to poliomyelitis by
2007.
 To reduce the proportion of infants infected with
HIV by 20 per cent by 2007 and by 50 per cent by
2010, by ensuring that 80 per cent of pregnant
women have access to ante-natal care, and 95
per cent of men and women aged 15–24 have
access to care, counselling and other HIV and
prevention services.

16. LEGISLATIONS PERTAINING TO
CHILDREN
 The Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Act, 2012
 The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education Act, 2009
 Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act, 2000
 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,
1986

17.  Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,
1976.
 Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles
and Infant Foods.
 Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act,
1994.
 Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995.
 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

18.  Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1986.
 11. Guardians and Wards Act, 1890.
 12. Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956.
 13. Right to Food Legislation and Children.
 14. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act,
1989.

19. Differences Between Children and
Adults
 Look at a child and an adult, standing side by side,
and you can see the most obvious difference
between the two, that is, size. Usually, the adult is
larger than the child.
 A child’s volume of blood is much less than an
adult’s volume of blood.

20.  A child’s head is larger in proportion to his body
than an adult’s head in proportion to his body.
 In babies, the body’s temperature control
mechanism is immature and unstable.
 Children have smaller airways with more soft
tissues.
 The respiratory rate of a child is faster than that of
an adult.
 A child’s trachea opening and the esophagus
opening are closer than in an adult.
 Children dehydrate easily.

21.  Children have less blood than adults. This makes
children at greater risk than adults from bleeding
to death or developing severe shock from a
relatively minor wound.
 Children have thinner skins than adults. Their
epidermis is thinner and under-keratinized,
compared with that of adults.
 Children cannot be expected to follow complex
directions or instructions given to a group. Simple,
individualized guidance will be required to help
children through the process of obtaining care or
escaping danger.

22.  Children require more intensive and continuous
psychological support during an emergency or
disaster situation.
 r The incubation period for biological agents is
shorter in children, with symptoms typically
appearing more quickly than in adults. As a result,
syndromic surveillance in children may detect an
event earlier than syndromic surveillance in
adults.