Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Pertussis is a particularly severe disease in the first year of life. Complications are common and include apneic episodes, seizures, secondary bacterial pneumonia, encephalopathy and death.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Pertussis begins with mild upper respiratory tract symptoms and cough. This catarrhal stage usually lasts 1 to 2 weeks. The disease progresses to severe paroxysms of a staccato cough, followed by posttussive emesis.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Viral pneumonia occurs more commonly in the winter and generally has a gradual onset, often with associated cough, congestion, and fever. Tachypnea may be the only physical finding. However, retractions, rales and wheezing are common.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
S. pneumoniae is one of the most frequently seen bacterial agents that causes pneumonia in children. Children with immunodeficiency, chronic renal disease and asplenia are at increased risk for S. pneumoniae infection.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Clinical symptoms and signs of pneumonia in pediatric patients vary with patient age, specific pathogen and disease severity. Infants younger than 3 months generally have respiratory symptoms such as tachypnea, cough and retractions.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Bacterial pneumonia and mycoplasma infections are usually transmitted person to person by droplet aspiration. Asymptomatic upper airway colonization often occurs in children and may spread infection to other children.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
The lung is protected from infection by a variety of immune mechanisms. Passively acquired maternal antibodies are important in protection against S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae infections during the first few months of life.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
The clinical picture of pneumonia is highly variable, ranging from a mild illness to life-threatening disease. Clinical and radiographic findings sometimes suggest an organism, but the determination of a causative agent is not always straightforward.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Nasal flaring and retractions are visible signs of respiratory distress in bronchiolitis. Lung auscultation often reveals decreased air movement, rales, rhonchi, wheezing and an increased ratio of expiratory to inspiratory times.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Infants with bronchiolitis are typically younger than 12 months and present during the winter months. The first symptoms are generally those of an upper respiratory infection, such as nasal congestion and copious rhinorrhea.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Many viruses are implicated as the underlying cause of bronchiolitis. Respiratory syncytial virus, the most common agent identified in children diagnosed with this disease, is estimated to cause up to 70% of cases in previously healthy children.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Bronchiolitis is an acute infectious disease that results in inflammation of the small airways in children younger than 2 years. This process is manifested clinically as wheezing and increased work of breathing.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Heliox is a low-density mixture of helium and oxygen that results in less turbulent flow through narrowed airways. Theoretically, heliox may decrease the work of breathing, resulting in less respiratory muscle fatigue.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Racemic albuterol has become the short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) of choice for the treatment of children with acute asthma. Options for mode of delivery include a small-volume nebulizer (NEB) and metered-dose inhaler with a spacer (MDI-S).

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Pediatric Nursing

Category: Pediatric Nursing 
Croup may have a viral or allergic cause and affects children from infancy through early school age. Clinical presentation is marked by an abrupt onset of a harsh barky cough and inspiratory stridor.