the age group of school-aged children
assessment
in children is one of the most crucial roles of professional nurses, and this explains why this process is usually one of the initial stages in the nursing process. Pediatric needs vary with age groups. Childhood is considered as the age group between 13 months to 12 years old; toddlerhood ranges between 13 months to 3 years. On the other hand, preschooler ranges from 3 years to 5 years, and a school-aged kid is taken from 5 years to 12 years. The registered nurses need to know the typical stages of child development from the expected patterns to enhance the ability of the nurses to assess the health needs of every patient accurately. This paper assesses the age group of school-aged children.
Physical Assessment
can be involved in meal preparation as within this age, they begin to understand the essential relationship between nutrition and development.
It is prudent for the professional nurses to thoroughly understand the typical development stages under this age group to perform a practical assessment properly. Marjorie Gordon developed a functional health pattern that provides essential guidance for professional nurses to obtain information on a patient based on their development stage. Eleven models exist that try to relate healthcare behaviors applied to a child’s lifespan through to adulthood. For instance, school-aged children
A nurse can practically alter assessment techniques to match the development stages and age of school-aged kids. Certain factors, as being able to understand medications as well as being able to analyze the primary cause of the illness, may be necessary. As a result, a professional nurse could inquire from a school-aged child if they have had an encounter with a doctor before or if they know anything about it; this would assist. From this, the nurse may get the necessary data to guide the health care plan. For the patient to trust the caregiver, the nurse should develop a rapport with the child, as this will also make the children participate in their assessment plan.
Inferiority
and Industry
Erikson developed a theory that involves a psychosocial crisis that aids in developing human personality in their entire lifetime. In school-aged children, however, this age is referred to as industry vs. inferiority. During this development stage, the child acquires new skills and abilities that enable them to relate well with their peers. The sense of industry is achieved when the child develops positively; however, if the child fails to produce positively, no experience is acquired, and the patient develops what is called inferiority.
For instance, my younger brother is six years old and is in Erikson’s development stage of industry vs. inferiority. From his daily activities, I have noticed that the child has gained new skills such as reading and writing, and has developed a sense of independence. When I encourage him based on merit, he feels a sense of pride and self-belonging; this enables him to develop high self-esteem. It is hard, however, to conclude that he has successfully attained the industry stage. When my brother learns how two add two numbers, like two plus two, and gets four, he comes home thrilled and ready even to learn
more.
Development Assessment
Cognitive development
stages is another basic psychological theory developed by Jean Piaget, which can be used in development assessment. These theories aid in improving and concluding different stages of cognitive development, as witnessed in the child’s development. According to Jean Piaget, cognitive development is a process that takes place over a period, and their achievements attributed to each child. Piaget
further states that these stages include concrete operational, formal operations, preoperational, and sensorimotor. The school-aged children range between preoperational and concrete. While the latter is for children between 2 years and seven years old, the former applies for children between seven to 11 years old. It is in the preoperational stage that children begin to learn the various meanings of different words through interactive play with multiple objects. However, in this stage, it is tough for the children to understand the logic and have various perspectives of situations. For instance, in this stage, children may take empty boxes, sit on them, and pretend to be in a car.
On the other hand, during the concrete operational stage, the child begins to connect dots and learn new skills that were not learned in the previous step. Here the child starts to learn the logic and begins to think about the tasks at hand. For instance, if the child begins to learn that whenever they are near individual plants, they develop skin rashes, learn that they are allergic to such plants, and thus avoid them.
As a professional nurse, it is, however, essential to understanding the various stages of development in a child. If a child gains the trust of the healthcare giver, it is easy for the nurse to perform a physical assessment on the patient and even involve them in their development plan. For instance, if a nurse was assessing a child in the preoperational stage, they could use available domesticated animals as they contribute to their imaginary thinking.
In conclusion, a professional nurse needs to adequately understand the cognitive development stages to provide better care for their patients. The nurse should also be able to individualize each plan for the respective patient as different children, maybe with different needs based on their development
References
stages. Hence the healthcare giver
should be able to apply different strategies based on the sages of development.