Katie Allen: An Eight Year Old with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Price (includes one year of access and CE):  US$8 Course Code: 7SENNF-PRV-09-ddn13s14 CE: 1.00 Hours. Post Test Score Required for Successful Completion: 80%

Course Overview:

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a group of birth defects including mental retardation, deficient growth, and defects of the skull, face, and brain that can occur in the infants of women who drink alcohol during pregnancy. This case scenario is about an eight-year-old girl with FAS who has trouble concentrating, is highly impulsive, tends to withdraw from others, becomes easily anxious, does not remember to follow rules, and has occasional anger outbursts. A parish health nurse intervenes when the girl has trouble behaving at church and is ostracized by church members. The nurse works with the girl's foster mother to increase the sensitivity of church members to children who have developmental disabilities by providing education about FAS. The nurse also advocates for the girl's right to participate as a fully included member of her faith community. The nurse works with Sunday school teachers to develop strategies that improve the girl's ability to participate appropriately in an inclusive classroom. This case scenario also highlights how the nurse can play a role in the primary prevention of FAS by informing women of the risks of drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

Course Objectives:

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

• describe common mental and physical effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome seen in school age children.
• describe the partnership triad among the parish nurse, the foster family, and the child.
• describe how environmental and personal contexts affect the situation presented in this scenario.
• apply elements of human caring to the concept that a child who has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a person who has value and deserves respect, has the right to self-determination and maximum independence, has capacity for growth and development, and has ability for meaningful communication.
• identify nursing interventions that can be implemented by a parish nurse to develop a supportive and protective mental, social, and spiritual environment for a child who has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
• state the importance of the nurse's role in the primary prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

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.