Pediatric Patient Head To Toe Assessment: A Case Study

Researchers interviewed 1,699 adults that included primary caretakers for 811 children. And they investigated five factors: health conditions, health behaviors and attitudes, health care access, quality of life, and social or environmental factors. The communities were largely minority. One of the discoveries was that:

No knowledge of child’s medical history which can cause problems in diagnosing illness or most appropriate medical treatment

When assessing a child you must be careful to take into account confidentiality before carrying out an observation you must have parents and the settings permission and not to leave confidential material lying around they must be secured in a locked cabinet. Only talk to authorized personal about

American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians. [Clinical practice guideline:]. (2004).

Parents may feel overwhelmed by the assessment process and this assessment allows them to be involved every step of the way. Their role is also crucial to obtaining an accurate developmental level for the child. As part of the screening, there is an informal questionnaire and

Historically, the focus of the healthcare system was on treating symptoms and using a ‘Band-Aid approach’ as the primary method of patient care. The current Canadian health-care system is moving from this approach, to a more holistic ideal of healthcare which encompasses all the determinants of health. Although each determinant of health may individually have effects on health, all are interrelated to create a web of elements that form the principles of our physical and mental health (Potter and Perry, 2014 p. 10). Two such determinants of health are social environment, and healthy child development. These two create a cyclical relationship so, if negative, they can have destructive effects on the general health of an individual and those in acquaintance or familiar with them.

Wellness visits are a vital aspect of pediatric primary care. In the course of these visits, development assessment is performed which includes the process of mapping the performance of a child compared to children of similar age. Advanced practice nurses often conduct these assessments and thus it is vital for them to differentiate between abnormal and normal growth and development to identify red flags. Developmental red flags refer to indicators that identify developmental or behavioral markers suggesting the need for further assessment (Bellman et al., 2013). In this paper, I will reflect on the patient information presented in case study #3 and post an explanation of the various developmental red flags

M.C. is a 4 week old Caucasian male and was assessed on 2/3/2015. M.C. was awake and crying in his mother’s arms. He appeared to be well-nourished, well developed and in distress. M.C.’s mother stated his full name and date of birth, which matched his ID band. His mother was sitting in the hospital bed holding him in her arms and attempting to comfort him. His father was laying on the couch in the room. A complete head to toe assessment was not done during this time but the following results were obtained based on a focused assessment. M.C. was on contact-droplet isolation. M.C. had a temperature of 37.2C, his blood pressure was 33/47 with a MAP of 68 taken on his left leg. His respirations were 40 breaths per minute with an oxygen saturation of 100%. His pulse was 178 beats per minute. M.C. was on room air and had a PIV located in his left hand. There was no presence of tubes or drains. Pain was not assessed at this time however, M.C. was fussy and crying. The anterior and posterior fontanels were inspected. The anterior fontanel was soft and flat. M.C.’s lung sounds were clear to auscultation. His mother reported that he had some nasal congestion but had no

-Engaged in patient-centered care beyond the bedside and discovered the impact of environmental and social factors on a child’s well-being

Williams, A. A., Cormack, C. L., Chike-Harris, K., Durham, C. O., Fowler, T. O., & Jensen, E. A. (2015). Pediatric developmental screenings:

The decision to test a child for a late-onset disease restricts the child’s right to an open future (Davis). These diseases will affect that child as an adult and, as an adult, the child should have the right to choose for themselves whether they want to be tested or not. Not only does testing children for late-onset diseases restrict the child’s future, but it also leaves a significant impact on the child to parent relationship which is vital for development throughout the early stages of life (Davis). Oftentimes, the parents find themselves treating a “diseased” or “affected” child with more care and precaution in comparison to their other children (Kopelman), as if the “diseased” child is fragile.

As nurses, we are the frontline advocates for our elderly patient, because the patient might be reluctant to share information about the abuse they are experiencing. When doing head to toe assessments nurses are in a position to see signs of abuse of medication, physical abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. These type pf abuse can be seen through skin assessment; finding of bedsores (pressure sore, decubitus ulcers), bruises, broken bone, poor hygiene, dehydration over or under medication, and an overgrown nail are really good indicator of abuse. There is also mental cues for abuse such as, depression, sudden change of behavior, fearfulness, anxiety, and confusion. Most of these findings are objective, but it can be hard to obtain subjective

CANS is an assessment tool that was developed to facilitate the linkage between assessments and service plans (Lyons et al., 2015). The CANS primary focus is to represent children and adolescents at all levels of the systems (WCWPDS, 2015). The CANS focuses on areas of need and strength and uses a 4 point scale (Johnson et al., 2011). ). A rating of 0 indicates no evidence of a problem, a rating of 1 indicates an issue that should be observed, a rating of 2 indicates an issue that should be monitored, a rating of 3 indicates that the problem needs to be addressed in service planning, and 4 indicates immediate action (Johnson et al., 2011). Since there is an absolute zero this measurement is ratio. The interrater reliability between clinicians and researchers is (0.81) and its (0.85) among researchers (Johnson et al., 2011). I chose to use CANS because it has good concurrent validity and divergent validity, which is meant to measure a number of different areas of functioning (Johnson et al.,

Roseann. I enjoyed reading your post. Nurses should perform a comprehensive assessment when caring for elderly patients to detect geriatric syndromes. Confusion, dizziness, urinary incontinence, falls, pressure ulcer, and sleep difficulties are classified geriatric syndromes that need special attention. Elderly patients who have acute confusion, weakness, and urinary incontinence should be ruled out for urinary tract infection. I agree diagnostic work-up, vital signs, and thorough head-to-toe assessments are important to evaluate the patient for the underlying cause of the geriatric syndromes. Early identification of the signs and symptoms could prevent complications, decreased mortality, and shorter hospital stay. Using an appropriate assessment

Among the many fights against poverty, improving children’s’ health is one of the major responsibilities. A healthy child becomes a healthy adult, a person who has the ability to create a better life for them, the people around them, their community, and their countries. One of the core UNICEF objectives is to improve the health of the children of the world.