Growth & Development -Transitioning to Adult Care
Included In This Lesson
Outline
Overview
- Adolescent patients with the following diagnosis often need assistance with transitioning to adult care.
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Asthma
- Sickle Cell Disease
- Bleeding disorders
Nursing Points
- General
- Adolescents are at increased risk for poorly managing illnesses due to
- Increased risk taking
- Feelings of invincibility
- Increased emphasis on peer groups and popularity
Assessment
- Assess the adolescent for readiness to transition
- Currently adhering to treatment plan
- Disease is stabilized or improved
- Actively participating in health promotion
- Maintaining a good quality of life
- Meeting developmental milestones
- Setting and obtaining personal goals
Therapeutic Management
- Nursing Care
- Effective communication and planning
- Encourage the patient to be involved in care
- Provide opportunities for the patient to make decisions and be involved in care
- Continually assess patient for readiness to transition
- Provide education to help patient develop skills necessary to manage their illness
- Example
- Adolescent with diabetes learns to manage an insulin pump
- Example
- Effective communication and planning
Nursing Concepts
- Health Promotion
- Adolescent patients who are transitioning to adult care require close monitoring and education to ensure success.
- Human Development
- During the adolescent phase, patients are at increased risk for non-compliance with treatment plans.
- Patient Centered Care
- Understanding the developmental milestones associated with adolescence will aid in developing patient specific treatment plans.
Patient Education
- Adolescent patients should be educated on the long-term complications associated with poor management of their diagnosis.
Transcript
Hey everyone! In this lesson we are going to talk about the process of helping our adolescent patients transition from pediatric care to adult care, and we’ll do this by thinking about the developmental needs that are specific to this age group.
So, this process of changing care, leaving pediatric settings and moving to an adult provider can be very stressful for an adolescent patient who has been dealing with a complicated illness. they will have developed a high level of comfort in the peds world.
Now, adolescent patients are already at risk for non-compliance because developmentally, they feel invincible. They don’t fully comprehend the impact their illness could have if not properly managed. In addition to this, our adolescent patients are going to be super concerned about their peer groups. They want to be popular, and cool and normal so they may be less compliant if they think it’s going to affect this.
So, yeah transitioning to adult medicine is difficult and should involve a lot of planning. Nurses play a huge role in this process.
Some diagnoses where this is a common issue are cystic fibrosis, asthma, sickle cell disease, and bleeding disorders
The first thing nurses do is help assess to see if the patient is ready to transition.
The first thing we are looking for is to see that the patient is currently adhering to their management plan- so they are taking their medications, attending appointments, complying with diets, and generally have a solid understanding of the disease process.
Next, we want to see that as a result of their adherence, their disease has stabilized. So they way we measure this will vary with each disease, but we would want to see infrequent hospitalizations, fewer exacerbations of the illness, a lack of infections. All the things that would indicate they are managing the disease well.
We also want to see them stepping up and being involved in the care. So not just adhering to the plan, but also helping to create a plan that works for them. So this could mean scheduling appointments, taking time to read about their illness, things like that
Last but not least, we want to see that they are achieving a good quality of life. They have friends, they can set and attain goals, and that they are meeting milestones as well.
Like I said, nurses are really involved in this process. The encounters you have with these patients, either in hospital or at appointments are perfect times to chat about how they are feeling and also to involve them in the care.
It really boils down to communication, planning and patient education. These are pretty self-explanatory. You really want to make sure you give ample opportunities for the patient to be involved and make decisions from early on so they are ready to make the transition when they need to.
Once the transition has been made, they need to be under close monitoring and someone should be reassessing to make sure they are managing well and remain compliant with their care plan.
Peer groups can be really helpful during this time as they can help build confidence and ultimately help the patient stick with the care plan.
Your priority nursing concepts when helping and adolescent transition to adult care are health promotion, growth and development, and patient centered care.
Okay, I’ve listed some key points for this lesson here- let’s just talk through these really quickly. Transitioning care is just the process that takes place when an adolescent patient transitions to adult care. This will always be a team effort, but nurses play a key role in assessing, planning and helping the teen prepare.
One reason it takes all this planning and effort is because adolescents are at risk for being non-compliant. This is because of a lot of reasons but the main ones are because they feel invincible, will engage in risky behaviours and are very concerned about their peer groups.
Nurses play a huge role in looking for these signs of non-compliance and continually reassessing for readiness. Things to look for are current compliance, stabilization of the disease, active participation and interest and quality of life.
Planning is all about involving the patient and supporting them in their decisions.
Education will focus on giving them skills and knowledge needed to safely care for themselves.
That’s it for our lesson on growth and developmental considerations for transitioning to adult care. Make sure you check out all the resources attached to this lesson. Now, go out and be your best self today. Happy Nursing!
Tiona RN
Concepts Covered:
- Studying
- Medication Administration
- Adult
- Emergency Care of the Cardiac Patient
- Intraoperative Nursing
- Microbiology
- Cardiac Disorders
- Vascular Disorders
- Nervous System
- Upper GI Disorders
- Central Nervous System Disorders – Brain
- Immunological Disorders
- Fundamentals of Emergency Nursing
- Dosage Calculations
- Understanding Society
- Circulatory System
- Concepts of Pharmacology
- Hematologic Disorders
- Newborn Care
- Adulthood Growth and Development
- Disorders of Pancreas
- Postoperative Nursing
- Pregnancy Risks
- Neurological
- Postpartum Complications
- Noninfectious Respiratory Disorder
- Peripheral Nervous System Disorders
- Learning Pharmacology
- Prenatal Concepts
- Tissues and Glands
- Developmental Considerations
- Factors Influencing Community Health
- Childhood Growth and Development
- Prenatal and Neonatal Growth and Development
- Developmental Theories
- Basic
- Neonatal
- Pediatric
- Gastrointestinal
- Newborn Complications
- Labor Complications
- Fetal Development
- Terminology
- Labor and Delivery
- Postpartum Care
- Communication
- Basics of Mathematics
- Statistics
- Basics of Sociology
- Cardiovascular
- Shock
- Shock
- Disorders of the Posterior Pituitary Gland
- Endocrine
- Disorders of the Thyroid & Parathyroid Glands
- Liver & Gallbladder Disorders
- Lower GI Disorders
- Respiratory
- Delegation
- Perioperative Nursing Roles
- Acute & Chronic Renal Disorders
- Respiratory Emergencies
- Disorders of the Adrenal Gland
- Documentation and Communication
- Preoperative Nursing
- Legal and Ethical Issues
- Oncology Disorders
- Female Reproductive Disorders
- Musculoskeletal Trauma
- Renal Disorders
- Male Reproductive Disorders
- Sexually Transmitted Infections
- Infectious Respiratory Disorder
- Integumentary Disorders
- Emergency Care of the Trauma Patient
- Urinary Disorders
- Musculoskeletal Disorders
- EENT Disorders
- Neurological Emergencies
- Disorders of Thermoregulation
- Neurological Trauma
- Basics of NCLEX
- Integumentary Important Points
- Multisystem
- Test Taking Strategies
- Urinary System
- Emergency Care of the Neurological Patient
- Central Nervous System Disorders – Spinal Cord
- Respiratory System
- Emergency Care of the Respiratory Patient
- Cognitive Disorders
- Anxiety Disorders
- Depressive Disorders
- Trauma-Stress Disorders
- Substance Abuse Disorders
- Bipolar Disorders
- Psychotic Disorders
- Concepts of Mental Health
- Eating Disorders
- Personality Disorders
- Health & Stress
- Psychological Emergencies
- Somatoform Disorders
- Prioritization
- Community Health Overview
- Gastrointestinal Disorders
- Integumentary Disorders
- Respiratory Disorders
- Neurologic and Cognitive Disorders
- Renal and Urinary Disorders
- Infectious Disease Disorders
- EENT Disorders
- Hematologic Disorders
- Cardiovascular Disorders
- Musculoskeletal Disorders
- Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders
- Oncologic Disorders
- Behavior
- Emotions and Motivation
- Growth & Development
- Intelligence and Language
- Psychological Disorders
- State of Consciousness
- Note Taking
- Concepts of Population Health
- Basics of Human Biology