Child abuse and neglect is prevalent in Australia and worldwide, with lasting impacts on individuals, families and communities. Children and young people’s nurses (CYPNs) work with families in diverse settings and have unique skills and opportunities to prevent, identify and respond to child abuse and neglect. This paper summarises contemporary research, including the authors’ own research, to outline how CYPNs are contributing to addressing child abuse and neglect in Australia. Importantly, it highlights key knowledge and skills for CYPNs such as a broader safeguarding approach to improving outcomes for all vulnerable children in Australia.

Background Internationally, there has been widespread embrace of digital health service delivery among child and family service providers. However, little is known about the challenges and issues that early parenting services (EPS) and organisations face when implementing digital technologies, nor the ways that front-line managers facilitate best practice. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of managers and clinicians about ways to inform planning and implementation of effective digital service provision in the early childhood and parenting sector.

Methods In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with clinicians and managers from five EPS organisations in Australia and New Zealand, and analysed thematically.

Findings Results revealed two major themes, namely preparing for change (sub-themes: information technology (IT) support; clinical expertise and experience; skills with digital technologies; communication and relationship development skills) and management and governance of digital support services (sub-themes: management support; practice governance; and developing policy and guiding practice).

Discussion and conclusion The findings provide important insights into ways in which parenting services can enhance the quality of digital service delivery.

This research methods paper illustrates how the use of mixed methods, across four paediatric environments, provided an expanded knowledge base that enhanced understanding of complex situations and improved care.

Aim To demonstrate the value of using mixed methods in paediatric nursing research projects.

Methods The methodological approach used in four paediatric nursing research studies are described to demonstrate mixed methods use in healthcare, as well as the versatility of its application.

Results The four mixed methods studies described in this article include parents’ inappropriate use of emergency services for their children, high noise levels in NICU wards, the implementation of ISBAR (Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation) for ward handovers in a paediatric setting, and the evaluation of an embedded clinic for children living in homelessness. These four practical examples regarding the use of mixed methods are provided to demonstrate the use of sequential or concurrent methods of data collection and analysis for practice change.

Conclusion The use of mixed methods provides an ideal research approach to conduct nursing research in a paediatric setting.