Embedded Files
Nursing and child health care 5 tetracycline eye ointment 1% to both eyes to prevent eye infection. Delay washing of the new-born for 12-24 hours to avoid unnecessary chilling. Nothing should be applied to the cord except gentian violet. 1.3. Age and disease and patterns: To define the task better, it is important to look in more details at the types of diseases that are prominent at childhood. The following list summarizes the most important diseases that will be encountered at different ages. • Birth to 1 month-neonatal period • Obstetric complications and birth injuries • Asphyxia (failure to breathe at birth) • Low birth weight babies (prematurity) • Infection leading to septicemia • Tetanus (from infected cord) • Death of mother – the new born baby is likely to die of starvation, (or gastroenteritis, if bottle-fed) unless another woman can be found to breast feed him. A. First year of life- infancy • Respiratory diseases- pneumonia, whooping cough, etc. • Diarrheal diseases ( Especially likely if the baby is bottle fed Pediatric Nursing and child health care 6 • Malaria, measles marsmus, due to either lack of an adequate diet or a chronic disease • Vit A deficiency • Vit D deficiency B. Second to the fifth year of life • Malnutrition (Marasmus or kwashiorkor) some times both together • Pneumonia often caused by measles or whooping cough • Diarrhea diseases • Measles • Malaria • Anemia, some times accused by hook worm • Tuberculosis • Accidents • Streptococcal tonsillitis 2. After 5 years • Infectious diseases( Hook worm round worm) • Malnutrition • Malaria • Skin diseases • Respiratory diseases and other age specific diseases ( E.g: rheumatic fever, Streptococcal pharengitis and post streptococcal acute glumelonephritis are not common Pediatric Nursing and child health care 7 before five years of age)It is obvious from this list that most of these child hood diseases are preventable. This why such a great emphasis must be put on preventive programs including nutrition education, immunization and environmental sanitation 1.4. Health Priorities in children Child health Indicators: A. Perinatal mortality rate:- the total number of still-births plus the number of deaths under one week old, per 1000 birth or the sum of late fetal and early neonatal deaths. The causes of Perinatal mortality are generally attributed to trauma and stress of labor, toxemia ante partum hemorrhage, maternal disease (particularly malaria and malnutrition), congenital anomalies, infection and induced abortions. Rates and causes of perinatal mortality are less well documented in developing areas. Available data indicate that in some areas like Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the perinatal mortality rate was documented as high as 66 per 1000 live births. B. Neonatal mortality rate: - The number of deaths under 28 days of age per 1000 live births. The neonatal death reflects not only the quality of care available to women during pregnancy and childbirth but also the quality of care available Pediatric Nursing and child health care 8 to the newborn during the first months of life. Immaturity of the infant is the chief cause of these early deaths. Approximately 80 % of infants who die within 48 hours of birth weigh less than 2500 g. C. Post-natal mortality rate: - The number of deaths over 28 days but under one year of age per 1000 live births. D. Infant mortality rate: - The number of infant under one year of age dies per 1000 live births. It is the sum of neonatal and postnatal deaths. The primary cause is immaturity and the second leading cause is gastroenteritis, which can be prevented by putting the newborn immediately with the mother and advocating breast-feeding. E. Child mortality rate: - The number of deaths between 1 and 4 years in a year per 1000 children. This rate reflects the main environmental factors affecting the child health, such as nutrition, sanitation, communicable diseases and accidents around the home. It is a sensitive indicator of socioeconomic development in a community and may be 25 times higher in developing countries compared to developed countries. Pediatric Nursing and child health care 9 1.5 Care of the Under-Fives In most countries of the world, there is a relative neglect of the children of pre-school age.
Report abuse