Introduction
Pediatric nurses play an important role throughout the entire cycle of child development, from a toddler to a young adult. However, the children and their needs change with time, as they grow older, more self-aware, and more independent. They develop their own interests and hobbies, become integrated into society, form new friendships, and expose themselves to all sorts of influences from their peers, parents, and teachers. Every school has a nurse to address the various healthcare and psychological needs of schoolchildren and adolescents. As typical physical needs of an adolescent become closer to that of an adult, the psychological aspects of pediatric care become more prominent, as the physical growth is now accompanied by growing needs for companionship, acceptance, individuality, independence, protection, and praise. The purpose of this paper is to explore the aspects of pediatric nursing practices for adolescents.
The Role of a Pediatric Nurse and Complementary Alternative Medicine in Adolescents
The role of a pediatric nurse is to promote physical and emotional health in schoolchildren and adolescents. This could be done in different ways. Physical health could be ensured via the promotion of healthy ways of living, adequate dietary choices, proper and timely vaccination, as well as dealing with various diseases and injuries that may occur in a child. To promote psychological health, the nurse should emphasize preventive action by educating the child and its parents about potential dangers, such as negative peer influence that often leads to early smoking and alcoholism, depression, dealing with stress, and confrontations with other children. Study-related stress is an important factor for children, especially those whose parents have high expectations for them. While there are many pharmacological remedies to reduce anxiety and stress, parents often mistrust the use of drugs, associating them with serious mental conditions. Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) sees plenty of use in school settings and psychological wards. One novel example of CAM uses musical therapy as a way of reducing stress (Italia, Wolfenstetter, & Teuner, 2014). It can be implemented in classrooms and other learning facilities, and help reduce stress among the students by playing tunes that feature alpha-waves, delta-waves, and theta-waves to encourage a natural state of concentration and meditation, which is stated to reduce stress and improve the quality of learning (Bunt & Stige, 2014).
Adolescents and Depression
Depression is a common psychological disorder to occurs in teenagers and adolescents. Depression can occur for a great variety of reasons, ranging from hormonal rearrangements during the puberty stage, to receiving conflicting information and being torn between the conditions imposed on them by society, family, and school (Reynolds & Johnston, 2013). The desire to excel, to have friends, the fear of rejection and personal conflicts are among some of the many factors that can cause depression, especially if the results do not match the expectations. Common symptoms of depression in adolescents are reduced academic performance, fear or lack of desire to communicate to other children, listlessness and hopelessness, loss of appetite, and loss of interest in activities that used to bring happiness and joy. Treating depression in adolescents involves a complex of measures, such as psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, and medications (Reynolds & Johnston, 2013).
Stressors and Special Needs in Hospitalized Adolescents
In hospitalized adolescents, psychological traumas and social inhibitions play an even bigger role than the physical injury itself. Hospitalization in general places a stigma upon the child, indicating to the other children “something is not right” with them, which could lead to bullying (Thornberg, 2015). In addition, prolonged hospitalization, such as after a broken leg, can lead to academic performance decrease due to lack of practice, as well as a decrease in physical prowess, which could lead the child to view themselves as inferior (Elias & Murphy, 2012). In the described scenario, the child’s special need would be education. As physical activity is very limited due to the cast placed upon a child’s leg, the educational activity must be improved upon in order to ensure that the child does not fall behind. Inviting teachers to educate the child during the hospital stay as well as involving parents and nurses in educational activity would ensure the child’s ability to reintegrate into the school after hospitalization (Elias & Murphy, 2012).
Conclusions
The role of the pediatric nurse is to ensure that the child grows into a healthy and responsible adult, by helping them overcome physical and emotional challenges that may appear in their path. As children grow and develop their personalities, their needs shift from solely physical care towards psychological. The pediatric nurse needs to know how to deal not only with age-related diseases, traumas, and injuries, but also help overcome mental barriers, restrictions, and problems, in order to facilitate a healthy and productive way of life. As it is with younger children, parental education is important during these phases. It is impossible to bring a child to the hospital on every occasion, and prevention of potential problems, be those physical or psychological, is much easier and cheaper than the treatment of such.
References
Bunt, L., & Stige, B. (2014). Music therapy – an art beyond words. New York, NY: Routledge.
Elias, E.R., & Murphy, N.A. (2012). Home care of children and youth with complex health care needs and technology dependencies. Pediatrics, 129(5), 996-1005. Web.
Italia, S., Wolfenstetter, S.B., & Teuner, C.M. (2014). Patterns of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use in children: a systematic review. European Journal of Pediatrics, 173(11), 1413-1428. Web.
Reynolds, W.M., & Johnston, H.F. (2013). Handbook of depression in children and adolescents. New York, NY: Springer.
Thornberg, R. (2015). School bullying as a collective action: Stigma processes and identity struggling. Children and Society, 29(4), 310-320. Web.