Jimmy Young: A Four Year Old with Cerebral Palsy

Price (includes one year of access and CE):  US$12 Course Code: 7SENNF-PRV-09-ddn13s07 CE: 2.00 Hours. Post Test Score Required for Successful Completion: 80%

Course Overview:

This case scenario involves a four-year-old boy with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy who lives in a specialized foster care home. The boy, who is nonverbal and functions at a 3 to 4 month developmental level, has been receiving early intervention services and it is now time for him transition to preschool. When asked what type of preschool would be best for the boy, the home health nurse helps the family to engage in a decision-making process that address the needs of both the boy and the family, and suggests home-based interventions that will help facilitate the transition. The home health nurse further supports a successful transition by arranging and participating in an individualized education plan (IEP) meeting that includes the family, the nurse at the preschool, and other multidisciplinary team members. During the transition, all partners work together to identify and resolve problems with equipment, feeding, bowel habits, mobility, and behavioral adjustment in the new environment. As the school year passes, the team continues to work successfully on improving mobility, communication, social interaction, sensory integration, and behavior.

Course Objectives:

After completion of this learning activity, the learner will be able to:

• describe the partnership triad consisting of the child, the home health nurse, and the caregivers (specialized foster parents and staff at the preschool).
• describe priority areas of nursing assessment and intervention in the home-based care of children with cerebral palsy who are transitioning from early intervention services to school-based services.
• support an informed decision-making process for a caregiver regarding optimal school placement for his or her child.
• describe the collaboration process between a home health nurse and a school nurse in developing initial nursing needs for an Individual Education Plan (IEP) that addresses health-related issues present both at home and in the classroom for a child with numerous limitations associated with cerebral palsy.
• describe motor development assessments and interventions the nurse can implement to facilitate and support increased independent mobility in a child with cerebral palsy during the transition to preschool.
• identify possible problems that can arise related to nutrition, hydration, and bowel function as a child with cerebral palsy who has a gastrostomy tube transitions from home to classroom nursing services.
• differentiate between possible physical causes of undesirable behavior, such as self-gagging, during transition from home to preschool and behavior changes related to the transition itself.
• collaborate with caregivers to develop, implement, and evaluate health interventions that appropriately increase adaptive functioning both in the classroom and at home.

This courseware was made possible in part by grant number R43 NR04738-03 from the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Copyright© 2007 by HealthSoft, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

HealthSoft, Inc. is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the New York State Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

It has been assigned code 7SENNF-PRV-09.

This course is updated annually. Expiration date: 5/1/11

The faculty and planners of this course have no vested interests to disclose.

This course has received no commercial support.