Nurse perspectives on supporting children and youth who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Lauren E Zaylskie, Elizabeth E Biggs, Kaitlyn J Minchin and 1 others
PMID 38035596WHAT IT FOUND
Six pediatric ICU nurses valued AAC for children's care but said time, limited training, and shifting priorities often blocked communication access.
They wanted SLP support and clear AAC options.
Key findings
01Nurses said communication was important for children's care and well-being, but they often felt it was pushed aside by urgent ICU demands.
02Nurses wanted more training and clearer information about available AAC, because many did not know what devices or methods the unit had.
03Nurses said they needed families and other providers, including SLPs, to support communication, but shift changes could leave communication supports poorly set up for the next nurse.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only six nurses from one urban tertiary children's hospital in the United States, so the findings may not apply to other settings. All participating nurses were White women, and the paper reports they had 2-4 years of pediatric ICU experience, so it did not capture new nurses or other groups. Recruitment was difficult: nine nurses completed screening, three did not reply to follow-up, and the team could not pilot the interview guide because nurses could not participate in a pilot. Member-check summaries were sent, but the paper reports no additional comments or concerns and also says no nurses responded, so the themes were not fully verified. Findings are nurses' perceptions, not measured communication outcomes or effects of AAC.
Declared interests
The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural research, but no conflicts-of-interest declaration is provided.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that AAC training or SLP consultation improves child outcomes. The study asked six nurses about their experiences and did not test whether any support changed communication, recovery, or nurse workload.