Similarities and Differences in Assessing Children among Different Age Groups
According to Laberde (2011), toddlers, unlike school-aged children, are ignorant of their health and have to look up to their parents to keep away from dangerous conditions, such as pools. In terms of nutritional patterns, school-aged children have an increased desire for new foods, unlike toddlers who have to be fed milk mainly by the use of bottles. Parents are often stressed when training toddlers on the use of toilets, while pre-school-aged children have to be punished if they fail to visit the toilet independently (Laberde, 2011).
One of the similarities that are observed across children of all age groups is the fact they all like to play. Secondly, all children have a strong cognitive power driven by their desire to learn, especially from older people. Most children are reported to have sleep time of around 12 hours (Laberde, 2011). Parents handling children of all age groups ought to commend the young ones whenever they achieve to help the children improve their self-esteem (Laberde, 2011). It is interesting to note that parents are generally not free with their children, regardless of their age group, when it comes to reproductive and sexual health topics. Some parents use inappropriate words to refer to certain parts of the body, while others feel that talking with their children about sex is weird. In assessing values and beliefs, toddlers tend to uphold their family beliefs, while preschool-aged children show a fluctuation in their behavior. The situation is worse among school-aged children, who fail to comprehend why they have to follow specific rules (Laberde, 2011).
Nurses’ Assessment Approach to Children and Adults
According to Wintz and Cooper (2009), children below 3 years ought to be handled gently. A nurse would use his or her education to warmly hold a toddler or allow the parent to hold the child when carrying out an assessment (Narayan, 2010). A nurse would appreciate a child after a successful examination and treatment out of the realization that toddlers need to be commended. At the same time, they would allow the toddler to hold some equipment that would not cause them harm. On the other hand, a nurse would handle a young adult with the full realization that the patient is physically and sexually mature. They would also consider that the nutrition of the young adult is focused on maintenance, rather than the growth of the body (Narayan, 2010). Nurses should communicate with an elderly patient with a lot of respect, as they would not wish to see the elderly patient getting depressed (Wintz & Cooper, 2009).
According to Narayan (2010), the US population is made up of people from different cultures. Nurses should attend to patients having in mind that a certain practice may not generally be right across all cultures. Patients from cultures where stoicism, for example, is highly valued should be educated on different ways of expressing pain, rather than leaving them to groan in pain without freely expressing themselves (Narayan, 2010). People from communities that generally scream when in pain should be allowed to have someone beside them, whether they are children or adults when receiving painful treatment. Nurses encounter children and adults who have different spiritual views (Wintz & Cooper 2009). They should, therefore, be mindful of the patients’ beliefs, taking time to listen attentively to their distress, and where possible, referring them to a suitable health professional (Wintz & Cooper 2009).
References
Laberde, R. (2011). Children’s functional health patterns assessment. Phoenix, AZ: Grand Canyon University.
Narayan, M. C. (2010). Culture’s effects on pain assessment and management. American Journal of Nursing, 110(4), 38-47.
Wintz, S., & Cooper, E. (2009). Cultural & spiritual sensitivity: A learning module for health care professionals. New York, NY: Health Care Chaplaincy.