Developing a Teddy Bear Clinic: A Framework for Involving Child Service Users in a Nursing Curriculum

Abstract

The importance of service user and carer involvement in the organisation of ‘health-care’ has been articulated in policy for many years (Department of Health, 2006). The involvement of service users has been mirrored in the education of nurses to varying degrees around the United Kingdom (Repper & Breeze, 2007), and is considered a valuable aspect of nurse education (McKeown et al., 2012). The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) insists that service users are involved in all aspects of the nursing curriculum (NMC, 2010a). When the service users are children, their involvement in the organisation of health-care poses unique challenges (Coyne, 2008; Lewis & Lenehan, 2013; Moore & Kirk, 2010). Similarly, the involvement of children in the curriculum of child field nursing students demands innovative educational approaches (Carter & Brown, 2014; Fenton, 2014). The development of one such innovative approach is presented in this chapter. The Teddy Bear Clinic involves student nurses and children working together in the school environment, with equipment frequently used in hospitals, to care for teddy bears. A framework has been developed which can be adapted for other nursing curricula. Informal evaluation supports the Teddy Bear Clinic as a successful approach to involving children in a nursing curriculum. In this chapter, the rationale behind the development of the Teddy Bear Clinic will be explored, the Teddy Bear Clinic will be described, and the benefits of this approach will be discussed.