homework help, please

[lulain]

What assessments and immediate interventions should be performed when a patient is admitted to the Pediatric Unit?

thanks so much, guys! i'm a little stumped on this one.

[Clovery]

It completely depends on the diagnosis.

In general, you definitely want vitals, pain, temp. You may not get a BP on a baby. Make sure any equipment that came with them is intact and functioning (like IV, O2 mask, catheter, etc). Review the meds they are on and determine last/next dose. You also want to do a psychosocial assessment - determine the child's developmental level and family situation - who is the primary caretaker, is that person legally and mentally capable of making decisions for the child, do they speak english, etc.

If they're being admitted to a regular Peds Unit, I'm assuming they are stable and they are probably coming from either the ER or post-op. Aside from whatever is medically indicated for their condition, you'd want to do the standard unit orientation & fall risk assessment...

If that's all the information you have in the question - I'm stumped too! Hope that helped a bit.

[lulain]

Thanks, Cloverly, that did really help. Those are all great interventions. She was admitted for dehydration, UTI, and pneumonia.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

what assessments and immediate interventions should be performed when a patient is admitted to the pediatric unit?

thanks so much, guys! i'm a little stumped on this one.

pneumonitis refers to lung inflammation; pneumonia refers to pneumonitis, usually due to infection but sometimes non infectious, that has the additional feature of pulmonary consolidation. pneumonia can be classified in several ways. it is most commonly classified by where or how it was acquired (community-acquired, aspiration, healthcare-associated, hospital-acquired, and ventilator-associated pneumonia), but may also be classified by the area of lung affected (lobar pneumonia, bronchial pneumonia and acute interstitial pneumonia), or by the causative organism. pneumonia in children may additionally be classified based on signs and symptoms as non-severe, severe, or very severe.

google is your friend....

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=symptoms+with+pneumonia+in+children

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/dehydration_in_children/article_em.htm#

dehydration in children overview

dehydration means that a child's body lacks enough fluid. dehydration can result from not drinking, vomiting,diarrhea, fever and rapid respirations or any combination of these conditions. rarely, sweating too much or urinating too much can cause dehydration. infants and small children are much more likely to become dehydrated than older children or adults, because they can lose relatively more fluid quickly.

is the child alert, do they cry? are there tears? what about breathing? how's the chest moving, are there retractions? grunting? how old is this child?

ask mom about feeding, what do they eat? any allergies to food? toileting habits....what do they call it and their private parts. all this depends on age.

[lulain]

Thanks for the response, Esme! Thoughtful answer.