Education is instrumental in preparing new parents on what to expect during pregnancy and after birth. It is important to teach parents how to care for their infant inside and outside of the womb. The nurse will need to educate parents on lifestyle changes that will promote optimal health in their infant. The nurse will determine education based on the parents’ lifestyles and habits such as cessation of smoking and drinking of alcoholic beverages. The teaching will include what fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is, how to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome, the side effects of fetal alcohol syndrome during infancy, and the long term effects of fetal alcohol syndrome on the child emotional, physically, and mentally.
Definition
Fetal alcohol syndrome …show more content…
Since the majority of women do not realize they have conceived until they are about 4-6 weeks into gestation it is important for the nurse to teach the use of contraception. During gestation, the consumption of alcohol may already have caused damage to the fetal neurological development and growth (Mwansa-Kambafwile et al., 2011). The next step in prevention of FAS is spotting mothers at risk. When completing the medical history the nurse needs to include the average amount of alcohol consumption that occurs daily, weekly, and monthly. The nurse should also use a standardized questionnaire such as, TWEAK, to identify women with heavy drinking or alcohol abuse and dependence. If menses is irregular or absent, the nurse should educate the patient on the cessation of alcohol consumption to help prevent FAS or to help prevent the fetus from incurring any more damage. The nurse should also know that a pregnant woman doesn 't have to be a binge drinker to put her fetus at risk. Low levels of prenatal alcohol use have been associated with adverse behavioral changes in children (Boyce, …show more content…
Neurological impairments vary among individuals, but often affect natural adaption. Individuals suffering from FAS often require life-long care at home or in a medical setting (Masotti, Longstaffe, Gammon, Isbister, Maxwell & Hanlon-Dearman, 2015). Children with intellectual disabilities will often receive care from a developmental specialist, physician, nurse, teacher, language therapist, occupational therapist, and physical rehabilitation specialist. Nurses will identify intellectual disabilities through history taking, observation, and developmental screening. The nurse will help provide emotional support to the family, a safe environment for the child, and practice community-based nursing care to help the family adapt and function optimally to promote physical and mental development in the child (Ball et al, 2015, p.885-89). Once children reach school age, they are frequently noted to have difficulty interacting with peers in classroom situations. FAS Children often exhibit significant deficits involving communication, socialization, and daily living skills compared with typically developing children. “Children who had been exposed to alcohol throughout pregnancy were rated by their teachers as showing more problem behaviors than children whose mothers never drank or stopped drinking by the second trimester” (Olswang, Svensson, &Astley, 2010). Studies
Definition
Fetal alcohol syndrome …show more content…
Since the majority of women do not realize they have conceived until they are about 4-6 weeks into gestation it is important for the nurse to teach the use of contraception. During gestation, the consumption of alcohol may already have caused damage to the fetal neurological development and growth (Mwansa-Kambafwile et al., 2011). The next step in prevention of FAS is spotting mothers at risk. When completing the medical history the nurse needs to include the average amount of alcohol consumption that occurs daily, weekly, and monthly. The nurse should also use a standardized questionnaire such as, TWEAK, to identify women with heavy drinking or alcohol abuse and dependence. If menses is irregular or absent, the nurse should educate the patient on the cessation of alcohol consumption to help prevent FAS or to help prevent the fetus from incurring any more damage. The nurse should also know that a pregnant woman doesn 't have to be a binge drinker to put her fetus at risk. Low levels of prenatal alcohol use have been associated with adverse behavioral changes in children (Boyce, …show more content…
Neurological impairments vary among individuals, but often affect natural adaption. Individuals suffering from FAS often require life-long care at home or in a medical setting (Masotti, Longstaffe, Gammon, Isbister, Maxwell & Hanlon-Dearman, 2015). Children with intellectual disabilities will often receive care from a developmental specialist, physician, nurse, teacher, language therapist, occupational therapist, and physical rehabilitation specialist. Nurses will identify intellectual disabilities through history taking, observation, and developmental screening. The nurse will help provide emotional support to the family, a safe environment for the child, and practice community-based nursing care to help the family adapt and function optimally to promote physical and mental development in the child (Ball et al, 2015, p.885-89). Once children reach school age, they are frequently noted to have difficulty interacting with peers in classroom situations. FAS Children often exhibit significant deficits involving communication, socialization, and daily living skills compared with typically developing children. “Children who had been exposed to alcohol throughout pregnancy were rated by their teachers as showing more problem behaviors than children whose mothers never drank or stopped drinking by the second trimester” (Olswang, Svensson, &Astley, 2010). Studies