Henrik Hjelmgren

I completed my degree in pediatric nursing in 2012 at Karolinska Institutet and later became a registered clinical PhD-student at the department of Women's and Children's Health in 2015. Since 2016, I have worked as a “University nurse” at Karolinska University Hospital-Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, where I am involved in research, clinical practice, and teaching.

My research focuses on the procedure of blood sampling in children, specifically aimed at preventing failed attempts. Most errors occur during the pre-analytical process of sampling, leading to unnecessary suffering and safety risks for the children. In my doctoral project, Associate Professor Björn Nordlund was my primary supervisor. My thesis was defended in 2022 and the title was, "Pre-analytical errors in blood sampling procedures in paediatric hospital care".

In addition to my doctoral project, I am also involved in several innovation projects that aim to develop solutions for use in clinical practice. I have received funding from both the Swedish Innovation authority -Vinnova in 2021 and 2024 and the Innovation Fund 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024.

"Stick Adventure" is an mobile-application designed for children who are about to undergo or have undergone any form of needle-related procedure, such as blood sampling or vaccinations. The idea is to use gamification to de-dramatize the procedure and provide children with information about how it works in a fun and entertaining way. In the same project we developed an Augment Reality(AR)- distraction solution that could help children during medical procedures which is under evaluation in my post-doctoral program.
The app "Blodprovstavlan" is intended for staff who perform blood sampling on children. Its purpose is to gather all necessary evidence-based information in one place, thereby increasing staff knowledge.

I have also participated as a research leader in a project evaluating nurses' experiences in caring for children with hyperinflammation after COVID-19 (MIS-C).

Since 2023, I have been a postdoctoral researcher in the “Research in Pediatric Health Sciences” research group led by Cecilia Bartholdsson, in the departpment of Women's and Children's Health. The focus on my post-doc project is to develop and evaluate eXtended Reality(XR)-distractions interventions that could ease children’s pain and fear during painful medical procedures. In my post-doc I’m also cooperating with the research group led by prof Amanda Ullman “Paediatric Nursing and Patient Safety”. During 2024, I visited Queensland University and the resourch group for post-doc fellow visit.

PUBLICATIONS

1. Hjelmgren, H*., Heintz, E., Ygge, B. M., Andersson, N., & Nordlund, B. 
(2023). Direct costs of blood drawings with pre-analytical errors in tertiary
paediatric hospital care. /PLoS One/, / 18/(8), e0290636.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290636 [1]

2.Hjelmgren H*, Andersson K, Widegren J, Bergman E, Vermé A, Mördrup K,
Öhlander M & Bartholdson C. Multi-inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)
associated with COVID-19: A nursing perspective experience report from a
high-income tertiary paediatric hospital context. Pediatr Rheumatol/ Online
J. *2023* Jan 18;21(1):5. doi: 10.1186/s12969-023-00786-y. PMID: 36653842;
PMCID: PMC9845810.

3. Hjelmgren H*, Ygge B-M, Nordlund B & Andersson N. Nurses’ experiences of
blood sample collection from children: a qualitative study from Swedish
paediatric hospital care. /BMC Nurs/. 2022 Mar 15;21(1):62. doi:
10.1186/s12912-022-00840-2. PMID: 35292007.

4. Hjelmgren H*, Nilsson A, Myrberg I-H, Andersson N, Ygge B-M & Nordlund B.
Capillary blood sampling increases the risk of preanalytical errors in
pediatric hospital care: Observational clinical study. /J Spec Pediatr Nurs/.
2021 Oct;26(4):e12337. doi: 10.1111/jspn.12337. Epub 2021 May 7. PMID:
33960595.

5. Hjelmgren H*, Nilsson A, Andersson, N, Ritzmo C, Ygge B-M & Nordlund B.
Retrospective study showed that blood sampling errors risked children’s
wellbeing and safety in a Swedish paediatric tertiary care. /Acta
Paediatr/. 2019 Mar;108(3):522-528. doi: 10.1111/apa.14528. Epub 2018 Aug 31.
PMID: 30069917.

THESIS:
Hjelmgren, H*. “Pre-analytical errors in blood sampling procedures in paediatric hospital care”, URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10616/47834 [2]
Institution: Karolinska Institutet
Supervisor: Nordlund, Björn
Co-supervisor: Nilsson, Anna; Andersson, Nina; Ygge, Britt-Marie
Issue date: 2022-01-14
Publication year: 2022
ISBN: 978-91-8016-485-6
[1] https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290636
[2] http://hdl.handle.net/10616/47834

POPULAR SCIENCE PUBLICATIONS:  

Hjelmgren H, "Stickäventyret, Ny teknik hjälper barn i samband med stick", Barnbladet, 2023, (3), s36-39. Riksföreningen för Barnsjuksköterskors tidsskrift

Hjelmgren H, "Hur ska vi tänka när vi sticker och tar blodprov på barn?, Aniva Ventilen, 2023, (4), s6-11. Riksföreningen för anestesi och intensivvårds tidsskrift

My research interests focus on assisting sick children through various approaches within the field of pediatric healthcare sciences, including invasive procedures, patient care, and safety. Throughout my career, I have been involved in education, innovation, and the development of diverse interventions aimed at alleviating pain and fear in children. Additionally, I have supported hospital staff in enhancing their skills and knowledge. Below is a list of my ongoing and previous research activities.

Ongoing research projects in the Paediatric healthcare science research group:

• Exploring eXtended Reality(XR) distraction and use in pediatric healthcare
  (Implementation and feasibility studies, Patient, parents and staff’s experiences, Children with Autism, Pain and fear outcomes, Needle-related and other painful procedures)   
•  PI: Henrik Hjelmgren
  
  
• Co-researchers: Anna Stålberg, Johanna Granhagen Jungner, Cecilia Bartholdson, Sandra Degent, Ivar Kronqvist, Elham Ghotbaldinian, Karol Gawelovich, Klas Kalholm and Aron Kerenyi
    

Ongoing collaboration research projects with other research groups:

·       Blood sampling through Peripheral Intravenous Catheters

o   PI: Henrik Hjelmgren

o   Co-researchers:, Amanda Ullman, Mari Takashima, Sabrina De Souza, Sam Keogh, Cecilia Bartholdson, Jeffersson Wildes da Silva Moura, Jacqueline Cunningham, Tricia Kleidon, Victoria Gibson

·       Reduction of forearm fractures in children - a prospective, multidisciplinary, mixed-methods study

o   PI: Aron Kerenyi

o   Co-researchers: Albano De Juan, Cecilia Bartholdson, Anna Stålberg, Henrik Hjelmgren

·       Neonatal skin integrity of CPAP care

o   PI: Deanne August

o   Co-researchers: Henrik Hjelmgren, Karl Hybinette, Caroline Aleksi- Magi, Sabrina De Souza, Stephanie Hall, Amanda Ullan

·       Pediatric pain relief in intramuscular injections

o   PI: Amanda Ullman

o   Co-researchers: Jeffersson Wildes da Silva Moura, Henrik Hjelmgren,  Sabrina De Souza, Mari Takashima

·       Pediatric pain in neurodiverse children

o   PI: Mari Takashima

o   Co-researchers: Amanda Ullman, Harriet Robertsson, Alexandra Donaldson , Sam Keogh, Henrik Hjelmgren,  Anna Stålberg, Karin Plummer, Catherine Kotzur, Lisa Burgess, Alexander Friedman, Laurel Mimmo, Jade Choi, Natalie Barker, Vanessa Cobham

Previous research projects with other research groups

·       Blood sampling and pre-analytical errors in pediatric hospital care

o   PI: Henrik Hjelmgren, Björn Nordlund

o   Co-researchers:, Anna Nilsson, Nina Andersson, Britt-Marie Ygge, Ida Hed Myrberg, Carina Ritzmo and Emelie Heintz