Nursing Care of the Child and Family Pediatric Nursing Paper

1 Running Head: PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER Pediatric Wellness Paper Student’s Name Institution 2 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER Pediatric Wellness Paper 1. PROCEDURE FOR THE VISIT a) Birth Date, Age, And Gender Primarily, it was hard to convince people to carry out an assessment for their children especially when I tried to do it from their home. First I had to get a letter with a signature and stamp from the area authority to show that there was an assessment I was carrying out. Although the letter explained everything I had to approach my reach from the hospitals around, I had to approach one of the doctors in one of the hospitals and explained what I was doing. The doctor was able to understand because one time or another he had to carry out the assessment too. Then the doctor gave me an appointment to attend one of the clinic days so that he could help me talk to one of the mothers bringing their child for a check-up. I was lucky to have one of them who had 18 months baby girl to accept the assessment which I was supposed to do from her home. The child had the following parameters: Birth Date: April 3rd 2017 Age-18 months Weight-11.79 kg Height=33 inches Head circumference= 48cm b) Growth Parameters 3 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER I used Birth to 36 months 3rd-97th percentile forms to plot my charts. Weight for Age From the picture, the child’s weight for age is in the 75th percentile 4 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER Length for Age Looking at the chart the length for age is slightly below 95th percentile which is estimated to be 85th percentile. 5 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER Weight for length From the chart above, the child’s weight for length is situated slightly below the 75th percentile and thus estimated to be 65th percentile. 6 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER Head Circumference for Age From the chart head circumference for age is in the 85th percentile. C) Nutritional Status On pay a visit to the home of the child, the mother informed me that she always plans for a child’s feeding routine for the whole day so that she takes a balanced diet. She gave me a food diary for a typical day. From 7:30- 8:00 AM 15-30 minutes breakfast; the child takes a Nursing Care of the Child and Family Pediatric Nursing Paper

7 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER cup of milk, carbohydrate, protein and a fruit. From 10:30 AM, the child, takes a nap. 12:00 noon 15-30 minutes lunch: a cup of milk, carbohydrate, protein and veggie. 2:30 PM, the child, takes some snack: a cup of milk, fruit, protein and carbohydrate. The child takes another nap at 3:00 PM. At 5:30 – 6:00 PM dinner time for the child; she takes some milk, veggie, carbohydrate and protein. d. Family Assessment The family consists of one Kid 18 months, the mother and father. It was the first family because none of the parents was in another marriage. They have a dog and a cat which they adopted recently. Nobody else lives at that home. Both parents are breadwinners because they both work online. They help each other in house chores, cooking and babysitting. The parents are religious people and every Sabbath they go to church with their daughter who will help the child to develop spiritually. Both parents contribute to the dressing and buying of toys for their daughter. Most of the time they purchase those things online. With this, the child will grow knowing both parents love her and that is why they contribute to buying here things that make her happy and thus she will not discriminate here parents. With both parents babysitting her shows that she will be open to both parents because of the bond created with both parents. The parents take care of the child themselves from home. Nursing Care of the Child and Family Pediatric Nursing Paper

The parents said they wouldn’t like their child to be left with nuns and that why they chose to venture into online work to be available for their daughter all the time. The child seems to be so happy to be with her both parents throughout her childhood. Parental care is always the best, and thus the child will be 8 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER happy and social with her parents if she finds any difficulty it would be easy to approach her parents and tell them. e. Home Environment The family lives in an apartment, the parents have their room, and the kid has her room as well. There is one room which acts as the office equipped with computers and internet connection. The kid has enough space to play around the house with her toys and the pets. She would sit and stare at the cartoon. The environment is cool; the home is located near hospital, daycare and school. Although the home environment is nice for the growing child, there are some safety issues. One of the safety concerns is the issue of exposing the child to pets; sometimes the pets transmit some diseases to the kid if they not well take care of. Another issue is the issue of exposing the child to the internet and computers would be dangers because cyberbullying and watching adult stuff. Last, there are so many cables in the house which is not well installed which could cause an accident to the child. 2. DATA ANALYSIS Weight for age for the child is at 75th percentile which shows that the girl weighs more than about 75% of the girls of her age, and less than 25% of other 18 months old girls. If the child follows this trend throughout, it shows she is growing normally, but if she gradually drops from 75th percentile to like 40th percentile, it indicates the child is growth is not normal. The Length for the age of the girl is 95th percentile which means that the girl is taller than about 95% of the girls of her age, and less than 5% of other 18 months old girls. The girl needs 9 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER to maintain the percentile, but if there is a gradual fall in the percentile to 50th percentile, it shows the growth and development is not normal.Nursing Care of the Child and Family Pediatric Nursing Paper

Weight for the length of the girl is 65th percentile which shows the girl weighs more than about 65% of the girls of her height, and less than 35% of other 33 inches tall girls. For normal growth and development the child is expected to maintain the percentile, but if it drops gradually, it will show that the child is not growing normally. Head circumference for age for the girl is 85th percentile which means her head circumference bigger than about 85% of the girls of her age, and less than 15% of other 18 months old girls. Consistency is also needed in growth and development of the head circumference of the girl for normal growth. Developmental Theorists Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory reviews development of a child throughout his or her life. Erik shows that development occurs in stages and there is always a development crisis that children and adults face which lead to their turning point (CRAIN, 2017). Looking at this case the 18 months girl’s development crisis would take place which would be shown in the charts and thus making her parents seek medical advice. After seeking the advice, the parents will be able to deal with the crisis and the child be able to grow in a normal way. Behavioural child development theories which state that behaviours of all humans are affected by the environment that they live in. They theorists that children and adults learn through association processes. Mostly by observing what is around them (Newman, & Newman, 2016).

This applies to our case in which the actions of the parents of the 18 months old 10 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER daughter would influence her behaviour later because she can observe what her parents do. Although the parents are controlling the child’s diet, she might reach a point where she wants to eat like her parents which later translates to her growth and development. Factors That Facilitate Growth The 18 months old girl gets the necessary social-emotional and cognitive support from her both parents because they are always around her most of the time (Delahooke, 2017).

The parents have learnt some of the expressions that her daughter makes when she is emotional and react to them. This will help the girl to acquire skills that will help her to interact with other people and how to control and express her emotions. Her parents always protect the 18 months old daughter from physical injuries which might affect her development and growth. As the child moves around trying to interact with the world around them, the parents are always on the watch to prevent the daughter from getting injured. Some physical injuries especially severe head injuries would lead to difficulty in brain development. After reviewing the food diary given by the mother of the child, the child takes a balanced diet. This has also translated to the growth of the child’s body. Looking at all the assessments done there is no assessment that is below the 50th percentile. This is an indication that the child eats healthy food. Problems to Be Addressed I had to check the clinic attendance of the child and saw that sometimes she postpones her attendance. The parents don’t adhere to the doctor’s appointments; most of the times they take 11 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER the child after a week although the mother states they sometimes get so busy. The parents need to be serious with the child’s healthcare because some of the immunizations if given at a late age, would affect the growth and development of their daughter. 3. GOALS However, with an interactive talk with the child’s parents, they told me they had a lot of goals for their daughter and them as parents. Goals for their child: a. Interact with other children who live around their home b. Develop self-control as she grows up c. Be all-round child; develop socially, physically, intellectually and emotionally d.

Develop appropriate language and pre-reading skills \ The parents wanted to achieve the following family goals: a. Develop new family friends b. Pray and attend church services together c. Get together as a family while they join their child for lunch at school d. Hug their child every day to strengthen their bond as a family. 4) INTERVENTIONS OR RECOMMENDATIONS Lastly, to maintain and promote the development, health and growth of a child various issues must be addressed including: i. Provision of a balanced diet to the child- a child must eat a balanced diet to ensure normal growth and development and live a healthy life. 12 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER ii. Sleep- Ensuring that your child gets proper sleep also ensure the health of the child and growth and development as well iii. Engaging in physical activities- parents should ensure they engage their child in various physical activities to he help to develop and grow physically. 13 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER References CRAIN, W. I. (2017). THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT: Concepts and applications. S.l.: ROUTLEDGE. Delahooke, M. (2017). Social and Emotional Development in Early Intervention. Eau Claire, Wisc: Pesi Publishing & Media. Newman, B. M., & Newman, P. R. (2016). Theories of human development. 14 PEDIATRIC WELLNESS PAPER …Nursing Care of the Child and Family Pediatric Nursing Paper