Assessment of the child's body Test 2

Question 1

What is the difference between toddlers and infants regarding thermoregulation?

Answer 1

o Fully developed as a toddler

o Infants have difficulty regulating temperature and can lose heat rapidly because of the large body surface area

Question 2

How do young children breathe?

Answer 2

o Children under 6 diaphragmatically breathe signs of respiratory distress
 Reason: immature intercostal muscles
 Make sure to count abdomen during breathing to obtain an accurate reading
 Can only accurately obtain when child is not crying or recently upset
o *** infants are obligated nose breathers and will NOT open mouth to breathe until 2-3 months if nose is obstructed
o Respiratory illnesses can become an emergency quickly
 Consume more oxygen than adults
 Airway easily compressed because of soft cartilage

Question 3

How do you administer ear drops to an adult compared to a child?

Answer 3

o Ear drop administration:
 Adults, you pull the ear back and up
 Child: under 3 years old: pull ear back and DOWN

Question 4

How do you obtain accurate BP from a child and what occurs in the heart once the baby is born?

Answer 4

o Cardiac muscles fully develop at 5 years
o Ductus arteriosus close within 10 to 15 hours in response to higher oxygen concentration
o To assess blood pressure, child has to sit and be quiet for 3-5 minutes

Question 5

Why are babies gassy and when do they obtain control of BM?

Answer 5

 Makes them feel gassy
 At 4-6 months have enough and become less gassy
 18 months able to control some of their bowel movements

Question 6

WHen does the posterior fontanelle close?

When does the anterior fontanelle close?

Answer 6

o Posterior fontanelle closes between 2 and 3 months

o Anterior Fontanelle closes between 7 to 19 months

Question 7

How does each stage of life describe pain?

Answer 7

• Stages of Pain:
  o Infant to year 2: experience pain, but do not understand it
  o Toddlers: anticipate painful events
  o Preschool: able to point to the pain, but cannot describe it
  o Age 2-7 years: may think pain is a form of punishment, and may say nothing about pain because they believe the adults already know they are in pain
  o Age 7 to 11: know injury and illness accompany pain, but don’t know why
  o School age children: understand pain and illness and will describe pain more elaborately
   Starts learning difference between physical and psychological pain
  o Adolescence: can think abstractly about pain