Vécu et expérience des parents et infirmiers face à une situation d’urgence pédiatrique : pour lutter contre la mortalité dans la Zone de Santé de Kadutu, ville de Bukavu, Province du Sud – Kivu.

Pediatric emergency services in hospitals in countries with limited resources, notably those in the Kadutu Health Zone, Bukavu City, South Kivu Province in Bukavu, eastern DRC, face considerable challenges. The aim was to contribute to improving the management of paediatric emergencies in order to reduce the infant mortality rate in the Kadutu Health Zone in the city of Bukavu. This study adopts a qualitative approach using the phenomenological method. This approach is supported by semistructured interviews with 10 parents and 5 nurses attending three hospital structures in the Kadutu Health Zone (CH SOS, CS Maria and HPGRB), for a period running from July 15 to September 30, 2024 (i.e. 3 months). We performed a thematic and categorical analysis. After analyzing the data, we note that sick children are not transported directly to the health service as soon as they fall ill, so that benign cases become increasingly complicated as a result of the delay in making the decision to go to hospital. On the nurses' side, there's no standard protocol to follow, a shortage of care materials, constant communication and inefficient organization of the department. Late arrival in the care structure, shortage of treatment equipment and the population's financial inaccessibility to healthcare are factors that have a severe impact on infant morbidity and mortality.