Assignment: Behavioral and Mental Health Issues
Behavioral and mental health issues can impact every facet of a child's life, making the most basic activities difficult for patients and their families. This was the case for 13-year-old Kara. For more than 8 years, Kara suffered from temper tantrums, impulsiveness, inappropriate behavior, difficulty in judgment, and sleep issues. Her behavior created problems at home and at school. As an advanced practice nurse working with pediatric patients, you must be able to assess if these types of problems are caused by psychological, social, or underlying growth and development issues.
As you explore behavioral and mental health issues in pediatric patients, you consider strategies for promoting positive behavior, mental wellness, and good self-perception. You also examine growth and development and psychosocial issues, as well as management strategies and potential cultural impact on care.
Learning Objectives
• Analyze common self-perception, behavior, and mental health issues in pediatric patients
• Analyze strategies that promote good self-perception, positive behavior, and mental wellness in pediatric patients
Practicum - SOAP Note
Select a patient who you examined during the last 3 weeks. With this patient in mind, address the following in a SOAP Note:
• Subjective: What details did the patient or parent provide regarding the personal and medical history? Include any discrepancies between the details provided by the child and details provided by the parent, as well as possible reasons for these discrepancies.
• Objective: What observations did you make during the physical assessment? Include pertinent positive and negative physical exam findings. Describe whether the patient presented with any growth and development or psychosocial issues.
• Assessment: What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three possible diagnoses. List them from highest priority to lowest priority. What was your primary diagnosis and why?
• Plan: What was your plan for diagnostics and primary diagnosis? What was your plan for treatment and management? Include pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments, alternative therapies, and follow-up parameters, as well as a rationale for this treatment and management plan.
• Reflection notes: What was your "aha" moment? What would you do differently in a similar patient evaluation?
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.