Nursing care plan for the clinical management of children with pneumonia in Otavalo

Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children under five years of age, especially in contexts with limitations in the quality and consistency of nursing care. The objective of this study was to develop a specific Nursing Care Plan for children under five years of age with pneumonia, aimed at optimizing the quality of care and the effectiveness of interventions performed by nursing staff at the San Luis De Otavalo Hospital, Ecuador. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, with a community-based design and an observational, prospective, cross-sectional, and descriptive focus, including as a population the nursing staff attending children with pneumonia in the hospital. Data were collected through structured surveys and document analysis, with a representative sample of 50 professionals selected via stratified probabilistic sampling. Results showed that 70% of the staff have undergraduate-level training, and 49% have less than five years of work experience, which limits the systematic implementation of the Nursing Care Plan. Additionally, 38% rarely use the plan in practice, and 28% have not received continuous training on the subject. The designed Plan addresses these gaps by incorporating strategies to enhance training, standardize practices, and empower caregivers in managing the disease. This study concludes that the designed Plan represents a key tool for strengthening the quality of pediatric care in the hospital setting