In working with school-aged children, the nurse keeps in mind ...

[bobbie]

In working with school-aged children, the nurse keeps in mind that the child of this age has which of the following skills mastered?
 
  a. understanding of words with double meanings
  b. ability to understand philosophical meanings
  c. spatial, temporal, and numerical concepts
  d. interest in and ability to create metaphors

Question 2

You are the nurse caring for a newborn infant who has a cleft lip and cleft palate and shows signs of mental retardation. Which of the following actions on your part would best support the parents?
 
  a. Model love and acceptance of the infant, and convey how precious the infant is.
  b. Answer all questions, and give additional information with absolute honesty no matter how difficult it may be for the parents to accept.
  c. Immediately give the parents the number of the support group for parents with children who are mentally retarded.
  d. Call the chaplain, and ask the chaplain to talk with the parents.

[kaylee05]

Answer to Question 1

C

Feedback
A Incorrect. School-aged children have not mastered the skill of understanding words with double meanings.
B Incorrect. School-aged children have not mastered the ability to understand philosophical meanings.
C Correct. School-aged children are interested in learning and have increased attention spans. They learn to master classification, serialization, and spatial, temporal and numerical concepts.
D Incorrect. School-aged children have not mastered an interest in and ability to create metaphors.

Answer to Question 2

A

Feedback
A Correct. Modeling love and acceptance of the infant, and conveying how precious the infant is best supports the parents. The nurse's approval of such an infant sets the stage for the parents to value their baby. The tone that a nurse sets in acceptance of a child with an impairment can serve as a role model for parents.
B Incorrect. Most caregivers react with significant grief and experience a grieving process then they learn their child has an impairment or cognitive alteration. Providing information and answering questions is not the most important action on the part of the nurse and would not best support the parents. The nurse should encourage family members to express fear, guilt, frustrations, and hopes about the child in order to assist them through the grieving process.
C Incorrect. This action would not best support the parents initially. Giving them the number of the support group for parents with children who are mentally retarded would be appropriate if the parents are interested. Some families need their privacy and experience peer support as an intrusion.
D Incorrect. The nurse needs to have some knowledge of the faith, religion, spirituality, etc. of the parents before involving a chaplain. Calling a chaplain to talk with the parents could be offensive to some individuals.