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Physical assessment of a child is a process that requires much dedication and effort because every year is a milestone accounting for crucial developmental changes that are to be addressed by a practitioner. For this reason, when working with children, nurses should take into consideration the developmental patterns tailored for every age to provide quality assessment and plan timely interventions. In terms of the present paper, school-aged children between the ages of 5 and 12 will be discussed.
Thus, when speaking of children aged between 5 and 12, it is of paramount importance to consider that this age gap plays a significant role in terms of the formation of autonomous thinking and functioning. As a result, starting at the age of five, children should be more capable of acknowledging their health condition. When it comes to the peculiarities of physical assessment, it may be outlined that the procedure and issues tackled during the check-up remain the same. It generally covers background information, health history, nutritional, mental health, and developmental assessments, review of systems, screening, and recommendations (“Health assessment of the school-age child,” 2017). However, what matters the most is how the nurse obtains the information required for the assessment. Undeniably, when working with a 5-year-old child, the primary source of information is the child’s parents. However, the older children become, the more aware they become of their well-being and health history, which means that they are willing to feel mature and describe their health state directly to the specialist.
Besides consistent physical development, school-aged children are emotionally vulnerable as they face new social environments and learn to cope with routines on their own. For this reason, during the assessment, nurses should pay proper attention to the aspect of the emotional well-being of a child. For example, some kids who are bullied at school because of their appearance are at risk of having mental disorders and anxiety, leading to development disruptions and predisposition for health issues (Fisher, Cassidy, & Mitchell, 2017). To anticipate such an outcome, nurses have to establish a trusting relationship with a school-aged patient.
For example, when speaking of the assessment of an 11-year-old child, it is important to remember that children at this age are likely to act reserved with adults as they start realizing how social interactions work. At the same time, they are willing to act independently, so nurses should be open to a discussion with kids. As far as developmental factors are concerned, it is necessary to examine the child’s nutrition patterns, frequency of physical activity, and sleeping habits and check for potential signs of puberty.
There exists a variety of theoretical approaches to the stages of children’s development. For example, Piaget’s framework outlines four major stages of development: sensorimotor (birth – 24 months), preoperational (18-24 months – 7 years), concrete operational (7 – 11 years), and formal operational (11+ years) (Carpendale, Lewis, & Müller, 2019). Thus, 11-year-old children find themselves on the threshold of the formal operational stage, which means they are already capable of logical reasoning. For this reasoning, when examining the child, nurses should communicate directly with the patient, even if it means that the same information will then be explained one more time to the child’s caregivers.
Having taken into consideration the notion of medical assessment of school-aged children, it may be concluded that nurses are to develop the habit of flexibility in terms of communication. School years, while presenting a challenge for children’s cognitive and emotional development, make them reconsider their lifestyle and habits. For this reason, it is the nurses’ responsibility to secure a trusting relationship with the patient to advert any health complications.
References
Carpendale, J. I., Lewis, C., & Müller, U. (2019). Piaget’s Theory.The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development, 1-11. Web.
Fisher, K., Cassidy, B., & Mitchell, A. M. (2017). Bullying: effects on school-aged children, screening tools, and referral sources.Journal of Community Health Nursing, 34(4), 171-179. Web.
Health assessment of the school-age child (5-12 years). (2017). The University of Texas Medical Branch. Web.
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