Children’s community nursing, run by Bedfordshire Community Health Services

What we do

The children’s community nursing (CCN) team provides a range of services to support children aged 0 – 16 years old (0 – 19 years old with special needs) who live within Bedfordshire and require skilled nursing support in their home.

The service is provided by a team of specialist trained children’s nurses with the appropriate knowledge, skills and expertise. The team support and provide specialist training for families to enable them to care for their sick child within their own home and promote high quality family centred care. The team can also support children and young people in attending school or nursery by training carers, where appropriate.

The service provides:

• Skilled care – if a child or young person requires a specific identified procedure, for example intravenous, subcutaneous, intramuscular medication. Other examples include wound care, post-surgery and orthopaedic care
• Symptom control management – if the child or young person requires a period of regular assessment and monitoring of symptoms, for example pain control in children requiring palliative care, exacerbation of chronic conditions such as eczema and constipation. The team also support oxygen dependent babies and children with complex healthcare needs
• Education – if the family or carer requires training to enable them to continue providing support and on-going care, for example enteral feeding, suctioning, oxygen therapy, tracheostomy care and administration of medication
• Nursing procedures – that can be safely undertaken at home
• Acting as advocate – for child and family, identifying Lead Professional in conjunction with family and other health care professionals
• Acting as resource – for other health care professionals