Module 09 Discussion – Pediatric Safety

Discussion Topic

Purpose of Assignment

This assignment will address the current issues in pediatric healthcare related to safety. Growth and development is an important factor that should be considered along with safety in many areas of pediatric health alterations. Many times the health alterations experienced by children can be prevented if safety education is provided.

Competency

Prioritize nursing interventions when caring for pediatric clients with health disorders.

Instructions

This discussion will focus on the importance of teaching a chosen safety concern in the pediatric population. You will present your response in the discussion addressing the following questions: (discussion should be 300 words).

Initial Post:

Determine the age and developmental stage and how that impacts the child related to the safety concern.

Describe why you believe the safety education you chose will benefit the pediatric population. Who do you believe is the target age range for this specific educational teaching?

Describe at least three nursing diagnoses related to the incident you are providing teaching to prevent. Support your choices with rationales citing 1-2 scholarly sources.

Response Posts:

Respond to two classmates’ posts with a different safety education than you chose and add additional rationale for why this type of education is beneficial. Cite 1-2 scholarly sources to support each response.

Due dates for your initial and response posts can be found by checking the

Course Syllabus

and

Course Calendar

2 RESPONSE POST

RESPONSE POST 1

For safety consideration, I am writing about urinary tract infections in children. Urinary tract infection (UTI) usually occurs in girls than boys due to anatomy structure. Girls have a shorter urethra compared to boys, and its location is closer to the vagina and anus. UTIs are a more common, short-term illness, but every discomfort is very painful for a newborn, toddler, or child; however, they can cause complications if not treated promptly. It is hard to notice if UTIs occur in toddlers because they cannot verbalize their feelings. There are two types of UTIs in toddlers: lower and upper (Cleveland clinic, 2021).

Signs and symptoms of UTIs in toddlers may differ from children. The toddler may experience fever, abdominal pain or feel fullness, strong, foul-smelling urine, poor growth, failure to thrive, weight loss or failure to gain weight, irritability, vomiting, diarrhea, poor feeding, exhaustion, and jaundice. For children, they may experience a frequent, urgent need to urinate and have only small urine output; incontinent during the day or at night (after full party trained); painful urination; dysuria; discomfort above the pubic bone; full odor urine; blood in the urine; nausea and vomiting; fever or chill; pain in at the back or the side (below the ribs); and fatigue (Cleveland clinic, 2021).

To prevent UTIs in toddlers and children, a student nurse should provide information on the signs and symptoms of UTI in toddlers and children to parents so they can detect them early if it occurs. Next, keep their children hydrated during the day, especially in the warm weather or during exercise. Parents should offer them to use the toilet at least every three hours to prevent stasis of urine in the bladder. Parents should teach the girl to wipe from front to back, and perineal hygiene is essential. If UTI symptoms occur in children, call the provider right away (Silberg-Flagg et al., 2017).

The first nursing diagnosis would be acute pain while urination related to prolong holding urine in the bladder for too long. The next nursing diagnosis would be impaired urinary elimination related to improper perineal hygiene, which causes bacterial craw up to the urethra. The third nursing diagnosis would be ineffective health maintenance related to deficit knowledge regarding treating or preventing UTIs (Silberg-Flagg et al., 2017).

Reference

1. Urinary Tract Infection (Children’s). (2021, April 19th). Cleveland Clinic.
2. 
   https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/124…
   
3. Silbert-Flagg, J., & Pillitteri, A. (2017). Maternal and Child Health Nursing (8th Edition). Wolters Kluwer Health.
   
   https://ambassadored.vitalsource.com/books/9781496…
   

RESPONSE POST 2

The safety consideration I am choosing to write about is dehydration in toddlers. Toddlers are at risk for dehydration because they are often “too busy” to take time to sit down to eat or drink. Dehydration could also occur in a toddler due to illness where vomiting, diarrhea, and/or fevers are involved. A toddler may not recognize that they are dehydrated and refuse to drink fluids (clevelandclinic.org, 2022).

Symptoms of dehydration in a toddler can include a dry tongue and dry lips, no tears when crying, fewer than six wet diapers in 24 hours or no urination for 8 hours, sunken soft spots on their head, sunken eyes, deep rapid breathing, and cool, blotchy hands and feet (clevelandclinic.org, 2022).

I believe this teaching is important because parents and caregivers may not understand how important it is to ensure that their toddler is hydrated. They may think that their toddler will let them know when they feel thirsty or they may not think about it. It is important to educate parents on how toddlers think at this stage of development and why it is important to have fluids available at all times so their toddler can drink while “on the go. (rch.org.au, 2022).”

Nursing diagnosis would be fluid volume deficit related to dehydration due to fever as evidenced by a temperature of 102.1. The desired outcome would be that within 48 hours the patient will have stabilized a temperature within normal ranges. Intervention would be that the parent or caregiver will encourage the patient to drink more fluids and give the patient fluids that they enjoy (clevelandclinic.org, 2022).

A second nursing diagnosis related to dehydration would be the risk for fluid volume deficit due to osmotic diuresis secondary to diabetes. The desired outcome is that the patient will demonstrate adequate hydration and balanced fluid volume. Intervention is to start intravenous therapy as prescribed and encourage oral fluid intake of at least 2500 ml per day (clevelandclinic.org, 2022).

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/8276-dehydration-and-your-child, 2022

https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Dehydration/, 2022