Andrew
Assesment
Parma lee elementary school has a diverse population of students from different backgrounds. It has Caucasians, African Americans, Asians, Native Americans among others. However, the majority of the students have a Hispanic background. The students in this school range from 3-5 years (preschool) and 6 to12 (school Age), and l noticed an equal distribution of boys and girls. Given the large population of Hispanics, some of the preschoolers with this ethnic background could not express themselves in English. However, they were helped by their peers during the screening. The screening incorporated Height and weight, blood pressure, checking hearing abilities and dental status. The preschool stage of development according to Erikson is initiative vs. Guilt. The goal of preschoolers is to acquire independence as they perform learned tasks. In other words being able undertake and accomplish tasks without interferences from care givers or their teachers. During this stage, preschoolers are learning new experiences for instance learning how to read and write, putting up puzzles, getting on a weighing scale by themselves among others. Giving them an opportunity to perform these tasks creates a sense of independence, and thus fulfilling their physical abilities successfully. Failure for preschoolers to achieve learned tasks creates a feeling of frustration leading to negative behaviors. Such behaviors include throwing objects, yelling, crying, and thus hesitating to try out other challenging skills. Furthermore, the students between 6 to 12 years according Erikson fall under the stage of industry vs. inferiority. In this stage, school age children focus on competence and the end results of performing given tasks. When a project is accomplished successful, they feel a sense of self-worth and ability to compete with others in the same class. Failure for school age children to meet their goals creates a feeling of unworthiness, and fear of being ridiculed by their peers, and thus considering themselves inferior. It’s common for children between 3 to 10years of age to have anxiety or fear when it comes to health screenings unlike those above 11 years. I encountered a situation where a 5 year old boy feared to take his blood pressure because he thought he would receive an injection afterword. I calmed him down, and l explained to him the procedure, and that he would not experience any pain. More so, l had to demonstrate by taking the blood pressure of another student for him to realize that the procedure is pain free. I used this intervention because it was visual, and for him to accept he needed to see another peer going through what he was about to experience. The height and weight are important aspects in determining the health status of children. The average height and weight for preschoolers was 40 inches and 38Lbs respectively. However, there were instances were some children in this age range were below 35 pounds, and this affected their blood pressure reading. Most students with a small body mass had a low blood pressure reading. Immunization is very important for children in this age range. Children in this age group ought to have been immunized against Diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis, inactivated poliovirus, measles, mumps and rubella, Hepatitis A, Varicella and also Trivalent inactivated influenza.
On the other hand, the average height and weight for those between 6 and 12 years was 51 inches and 60 pounds respectively. I expect children under this age group to have received meningococcal vaccine (MCV4) and human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV2) in 3 doses for females, and HVp4 for males. However, children could also receive vaccines that they missed out between the ages of 3 and 5. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends the above immunizations. It was a great experience taking part in this exercise as a nursing student for l was able to interact with children from different backgrounds, and l was able to understand that different age groups need special attention and adequate communication skill in order to realize effective results.