Module 3 Flashcards
like routines
* Separation anxiety is
also characteristic of this
stage of development
Toddlers
- Patient education for infancy through toddlerhood
need not be illness related.
True
2.Preschool children continue with development of
skills learned in the earlier years of growth.
3.The nurse’s interactions with preschool children and their parents are often sporadic, usually
occurring during occasional well-child visits to the pediatrician’s office or when minor medical
problems arise.
Usually less time is devoted to
teaching parents about illness care,
and considerably more time is spent
teaching aspects of
- normal development,
- safety,
- health promotion,
- disease prevention
Parents should be present whenever possible during learning activities to allay stress,
which could becompounded by separation anxiety
Ideally, health teaching should take
place in an environment familiar to the
child,
such as the home or day-care center
When the child is hospitalized, the
environment selected for teaching and
learning sessions should be as safe and
secure as possible, such as the child’s
bed or the playroom,
to increase the child’s sense of feeling protected.
Short-Term Learning for Toddlers
- Read simple stories from books with lots of pictures.
- Use dolls and puppets to act out feelings and behaviors.
- Use simple audiotapes with music and videotapes with cartoon characters.
- Role-play to bring the child’s imagination closer to reality.
- Give simple, concrete, nonthreatening explanations to accompany visual and tactile
experiences. - Perform procedures on a teddy bear or doll first to help the child comprehend what an
experience will be like. - Allow the child something to do—squeeze your hand, hold a Band-Aid, cry if it
hurts—to channel their responses to an unpleasant experience. - Keep teaching sessions brief (no longer than about five minutes each) because of the child’s
short attention span. - Cluster teaching sessions close together so that children can remember what they
learned from one instructional encounter to another. - Avoid analogies and explain things in straightforward and simple terms because children take
their world literally and concretely. - Individualize the pace of teaching according to the child’s responses and level of attention.
Long-Term Learning for Toddlers
- Focus on rituals, imitation, and repetition of information in the form of
words and actions to hold the child’s attention. - Use reinforcement as an opportunity for children to achieve permanence
of learning through practice. - Employ the teaching methods of gaming and modeling as a means by
which children can learn about the world and test their ideas over time. - Encourage parents to act as role models because their values and beliefs
serve to reinforce healthy behaviors and significantly influence the child’s
development of attitudes and behaviors.
3–6 Years of Age
Preschooler
Preschooler (3–6 Years of Age)
- Preschool children continue with development of skills
learned in the earlier years of growth. - Their sense of identity becomes clearer, and their world
expands to encompass involvement with others external
to the family unit. - Children in this developmental category acquire new
behaviors that give them more independence from their
parents and allow them to care for themselves more
autonomously. - Learning during this time period occurs through
interactions with others and through mimicking or
modeling the behaviors of playmates and adults
(Whitener et al.,2008).
Teaching Strategies
- The nurse’s interactions with preschool children and their
parents are often sporadic, usually occurring during occasional
well-child visits to the pediatrician’s office or when minor
medical problems arise. - During these interactions, the nurse should take every
opportunity to teach parents about health promotion and
disease prevention measures, to provide guidance regarding
normal growth and development, and to offer instruction about
medical recommendations when illnesses do arise. - Parents can be a great asset to the nurse in working with
children in this developmental phase, and they should be
included in all aspects of the educational plan and the actual
teaching experience (Ryberg & Merrifield, 1984;Woodring,
2000). - Parents can serve as the primary resource to answer
questions about children’s disabilities, their idiosyncrasies, their
favorite toys—all of which may affect their ability to learn
(Hussey & Hirsh, 1983). - Children’s fear of pain and bodily harm is uppermost in their
minds, whether they arewell or ill. Because of preschoolers’
fantasies and active imaginations, it is most important for the
nurse to reassure them and allow them to express themselves
openly about their fears (Heiney, 1991) - Choose your words carefully when describing procedures.
Preschoolers are familiar with many words, but using terms like
“cut” or “knife” is frightening to them. Instead, use less
threatening words like “fix,” “sew,” or “cover up the hole.” “Band-Aids” rather than “dressings” is a much more understandable
term, and bandages are often thought by children to have
magical healing powers (Babcock & Miller, 1994). - Although still dependent on family, the preschooler has begun
to have increasing contact with the outside world and is usually
able to interact more comfortably with others.
Parents should be present whenever possible during learning activities to allay stress,
which could becompounded by separation anxietywhich could be compounded by separation anxiety.
- Nevertheless, ________ in a child’s life should be
included as participants during teaching sessions.
significant adults
They can provide support to the child, substitute as the teacher
if the child is reluctant to interact with the nurse, and reinforce
teaching at a later point in time.
significant adults (mother and father)
The primary caretakers
mother and father
are the recipients of the majority of the
nurse’s teaching efforts.
mother and father
They will be the learners to assist the
child in achieving desired health outcomes (Hussey & Hirsh,1983; Kennedy & Riddle, 1989; Whitener et al., 1998).
mother and father
Short-Term Learning for Pre-school
- Provide physical and visual stimuli because language ability is still
limited, both for expressing ideas and for comprehending verbal
instructions. - Keep teaching sessions short (no more than 15 minutes) and scheduled
sequentially at close intervals so that information is not forgotten. - Relate information needs to activities and experiences familiar to the
child. - Encourage the child to participate in selecting between a limited number
of teaching–
learning options, such as playing with dolls or reading a story, which
promotes
active involvement and helps to establish nurse–client rapport. - Arrange small group sessions with peers as a way to make teaching less
threatening and more fun. - Give praise and approval, through both verbal expressions and
nonverbal gestures, which are real motivators for learning. - Give tangible rewards, such as badges or small
toys, immediately following a successful learning
experience as reinforcers in the mastery of cognitive
and psychomotor skills. - Allow the child to manipulate equipment and play
with replicas or dolls to learn about body parts.
Special kidney dolls, ostomy dolls with stomas, or
orthopedic dolls with splints and tractions provide
opportunity for hands-on experience. - Use storybooks to emphasize the humanity of healthcare personnel; to depict relationships
between child, parents, and others; and to assist with helping the child identify with particular situations.
Long-Term Learning for Pre-school
- Enlist the help of parents, who can play
a vital role in modeling a variety of
healthy habits, such as practicing safety
measures and eating a balanced diet. - Reinforce positive health behaviors and
the acquisition of specific skills.
(6–12 Years of Age)
School-Aged Childhood
children have progressed in their physical, cognitive, and psychosocial skills to the point where most begin formal training in structured school
systems.
School-Aged Childhood
They approach learning with enthusiastic
anticipation, and their minds are open to new and varied ideas.
School-Aged Childhood
- The nurse in the role of educator should explain
illness, treatment plans, and procedures in simple,
logical terms in accordance with the child’s level of
understanding and reasoning. Although school-aged
children are able to think logically, their ability for
abstract thought remains limited.
Therefore, teaching
should be presented in concrete terms with step-by step instructions (Pidgeon, 1985).
