Introduction
It is important to understand all aspects of life, including the development of children. Children are a continuously growing and developing population. As a pediatric nurse, a developmental understanding of each patient is vital to productive care. An assessment provides an overall idea of the patient’s illness, prognosis, and pertinent information concerning the teaching needs of the patient. The purpose of the developmental paper is to better understand a patient in order to meet their developmental needs, and provide care through patient advocacy and teaching. The patient chosen for this paper is K.B., a five-year and eight month old female who was diagnosed with epilepsy at age four.
History …show more content…
is served three meals a day but only eats one meal with two snacks. K.B. snacks a little throughout the day on goldfish, chips, fruit, and carrots. K.B. likes cheese, hamburger meat, chicken, oranges, strawberries, and milk. K.B. will take small bites of lettuce, spinach, potatoes, and tomatoes. K.B.’s low calorie consumption is related to her BMI of 13.4. K.B. consumes an estimated 800 calories a day rather than the 1200 calories she needs (Ball & Bindler, 2012). The family eats home cooked meals every day of the week, and rarely goes out to eat. The mother gets organic fruit and vegetables from Vons and meat, cheese, nuts, dairy, and breads from Sprouts. The dietary practices according to their family’s culture include eating dinner together every night of the week. They enjoy eating Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthday meals with their extended family. K.B. makes it look like more has been eaten by moving food around the plate, dropping food, and eating very slowly. The lack of calories that K.B. is getting each day could negatively affect her growth and development. Because diet has shown to have an affect on seizure activity, K.B. might need to drastically modify her …show more content…
takes initiative by expressing which stickers and colors she prefers. K.B. is able to choose her clothing and have small conversations. K.B.'s family is Caucasian and they speak English. K.B. speaks clearly and uses short phrases to describe her needs and wants. K.B. enjoys talking about her siblings and pets. K.B. often gets distracted between the T.V., her balloon, bears, pediatrician inquires, and blankets. K.B. often seems to be in her own world. Stressors in K.B.’s life are having a military father, moving frequently, and not being able to attend school regularly. K.B. spends most of the time with mom and rarely attends daycare. She loves watching Disney movies, The Mickey Mouse show, and superhero movies. K.B.’s family is currently not receiving any social support from organizations. K.B.’s mom is very involved in K.B.’s life, supports her to attend school as much as she can, and is there for K.B. when hospitalized. When K.B. has fears about death, K.B.’s mom reassures her to find comfort in heaven being a real and beautiful place. Sometimes K.B. has behavioral outbursts with rage and crying spells that last several minutes. After these incidences, K.B. usually doesn’t remember her behavior. Besides her epileptic moments, K.B. has a few temper tantrums and defiant behavioral episodes a month. K.B’s mother disciplines by redirecting K.B. and putting her in timeout for a short period to think about her inappropriate behavior. For example, the mom will redirect K.B.