Two Infant Children - Essay Example

Description

In a supermarket parking lot, I stumbled upon a car with two infant children. They both cried and were seated in the back seat, tightly strapped to their respective chairs. One of the children was fighting to break free while the other simply lay. The windows were shut completely and the parents were nowhere in sight. All the doors were locked. In the afternoon sun, the car was heating up, and with no cracked windows, the children were without a doubt suffocating and suffered the risk of getting a heat rash (Mann, 2015).

As a nurse, certain instincts come naturally. Infants should not be left alone in the heat to fend for themselves. An immediate feeling of protectiveness became my main agenda. Anxiety also came over me. I could not imagine the duration of time that these children had been there and how this would affect them. I, therefore, sought to relieve them of the immediate threat that was suffocation (Mann, 2015).

Looking at the situation, I thought it wise first to open a door. I assumed the driver might have forgotten to close their door and so began with that door. The easiest way to get to the children was to open their doors next, and so I unlocked all doors and flung the back door open. I was afraid of a misunderstanding between the parents or passers-by, I, however, could not limit my thought to the consequences and, therefore, swing both doors open. After the circulation of air was solved the next step was to look for the nearest authoritative agent. I called a security guard, and it is at this point that I was able to seek help from a second party. We then both waited for the parent to return as we each took a child to our hands.

Feelings

All caregivers are trained to handle all situations from a point of compassion and love. I first took the situation from the children’s perspective (Henry, 10). I thought that for an infant to try and understand, such heat and to look and find no help around was a painful situation. I, therefore, felt the need to address the situation in an immediate sense.

Evaluation

 There are quite a number of laws that govern how children are to be given care. It can be mistaken as a kidnapper in such a situation. It was, therefore, my first instinct to relieve the children of the immediate threat and then I would look to seek help from a person in authority.

Analysis

It is not easy to look and make sense of a situation that rarely happens. I, therefore, took the situation and rationalized the parents of the infants as ignorant. In addition to this, they lacked compassion as after they left, one of the doors was open, and the windows were shut. This meant that the children were neither safe from a kidnapping incident nor were they allowed to breathe safely.

Conclusion

I would report the matter to Social Services, but the influence a parent has on their child is crucial and therefore I thought it better to wait and talk with the parents.

Action Plan

In the event a situation similar to this occurs again, my first instinct would be to ensure that the child is safe. Nurses are agents of change and therefore it would be my instinct to look for the parent and talk about the needs of a child and the precautions that are necessary to ensure that the child is comfortable (Amin, 2008). This would make me an advocate for my client, which in this case is the child. Cars are very dangerous appliances. It is therefore not safe for adults to leave their infants in cars unattended (The University of Minnesota, 2015).