[The role of pediatric nurses in France in actions to support parenting]

Abstract

Introduction: Parenting support is a subject of a public health policy in France, identified as a means of reducing health inequalities in early childhood. Pediatric nurses, for their leadership role in supporting children and their families, are at the heart of these actions, but their feedback appears more in grey literature, rather than in scientific literature.

Aim: To describe and analyze actions of parenting support, performed by pediatric nurses, through professional literature, to give them visibility within the scientific community.

Method: A literature review was conducted from the EM-consulte database from 2009 to 2015. The analysis of the selected articles was inspired by a grid for collecting parenting support, developed by the French Society of Public Health, adjusted to the needs of the work.

Results: 88 articles were selected, identifying both actions including parenting support as primary aim, and actions where parenting support appeared as a philosophy of care and support to children and their families. Actions took place in all sectors of health, social and educational activities. The qualification approach is clearly used by pediatric nurses for these actions.

Conclusions: This review has helped draw up an inventory of the role of pediatric nurses in parenting support in France, identifying areas for improvement in practice, in the exchange of experiences and in knowledge dissemination.