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Infant hearing screening has become increasingly widespread as research evidence a dramatic benefit when early

identification of hearing loss occurs before six-months of age. The Health Professions Council of South Africa

(HPCSA) has recently published a hearing screening position statement recommending infant hearing screening in three contexts: the well-baby nursery, at discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and at Maternal and Child Health (MCH) clinics. The well-baby nursery and NICUs are established and internationally recognised screening contexts abundantly reported on whilst MCH clinics have not been investigated as screening contexts previously. The objective of this study was therefore …

Pediatric nurses working in acute care settings serving religious and culturally diverse families may encounter parents whose beliefs influence treatment decisions. Previous literature describes how these complex situations lead to emotional distress and strained relationships between health care provider and family members. An ethnographic study was conducted to investigate the impact of parental treatment refusal on the bedside interactions between pediatric nurses and parents. Twenty in-depth interviews with nurses were conducted, and extensive field notes were taken during data collection. Emotional feelings associated with possible loss of guardianship and subsequent mandated treatment, the impact of the situation on the nurses’ …