Children's complex care needs: a systematic concept analysis of multidisciplinary language

Complex care in the arena of child health is a growing phenomenon. Although considerable research is taking place, there remains limited understanding and agreement on the concept of complex care needs (CCNs), with potential for ambiguity. We conducted a systematic concept analysis of the attributes, antecedents, and consequences of children's CCNs from a multidisciplinary perspective. Our data sources included PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and PsycINFO. Inclusion criteria included publications in peer-reviewed journals between January 1990 and December 2017, written in the English language. One hundred and forty articles were included. We found that children's CCNs refer to multidimensional health and social care needs, in the presence of a recognized medical condition or where there is no unifying diagnosis.Conclusion: Children's CCNs are individual and contextualized, are continuing and dynamic, and are present across a range of settings, impacted by family and healthcare structures. There remain extensive challenges to caring for these children and their families, precluding the possibility that any one profession can possess the requisite knowledge or scope to singularly provide high-quality competent care.