Nursing Case Study: Physical Assessment and Child Development

This nursing assignment presents a case study focusing on the physical assessment of a 7-year-old school-aged child named John Parker. The assessment methodology is tailored to the child's developmental stage, considering cognitive abilities, social interactions, and understanding of instructions. The assignment emphasizes the importance of adapting assessment techniques based on the child's age and developmental needs, referencing Piaget's theory of cognitive development. The study includes a discussion of the child's ability to understand complex instructions, communicate, and engage in conversations. The assessment aims to establish a rapport with the child through clear explanations and open communication, ensuring cooperation and support during the process. The assignment references relevant literature, including works by Berk, Carey, Crain, Poitras, and Tyler, to support the assessment strategies and theoretical framework.

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
SCHOOL-AGED CHILD DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY
Name of the Study
Name of the University
Author note

1NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Physical assessment among school-aged children differs depending on their
developmental stage, as depending on this, children perceive the assessment process and their
altered developmental needs are identified (Tyler, MacDonald & Menear, 2014). The assessment
will include general assessment aspects such as nutritional assessment, immunization history,
psychological history, current medication and pain history and family medical history however
depending on the age of the children alteration or modification will be done (Poitras et al., 2016).
Such as, for infants respiration rate will be assessed at first and then the apical heart rate, blood
pressure and body temperature will be assessed respectively. However, for children within 5 to
12 years of age, their speech, their communication with other children, their ability to walk
without support, their scholastic performance and their posture should also be included in the
assessment method (Tyler, MacDonald & Menear, 2014). Therefore, these are aspects which will
be modified as per the age and developmental needs of school-aged child.
John Parker (7) has been chosen for the physical assessment and through this assessment
his developmental needs will be addressed. His age falls under the ‘school-age developmental
stage’ and from the previous ‘pre-school developmental stage’, he had developed strong peer
connections, greater motor skills and in developing secondary sexual characteristics. He would
further be able to understand the concept of size, shape and distance and will develop queries and
curiosity about such concepts. By this age, John has developed the ability of understanding
complex instructions and he would be able to learn new words and remember then. His speech
will be clearer and he will be able to understand the story telling method to predict the ending of
it story. Besides all these, by this age, John will develop the ability to take part in two end
conversations and would be waiting for his turn to make his argument.

2NURSING ASSIGNMENT
The developmental theory of Piaget focuses mainly on the Scheme, Organisation and
Adaptation of the school-aged children so that their organized pattern of behavior could be
assessed, their ability to combine their relationships and their ability to understand the adaptation
to experienced conditions could be assessed (Carey, Zaitchik & Bascandziev, 2015). This theory
mentions that children of this developmental stage develops schemes primarily through their
motor sensory activities and are able to carry out operations by their experiences (Crain, 2015).
Hence, while assessing John (7), the primary focus will be understanding his developmental
needs and the cognitive ability so that depending on that the physical assessment could be
modified (Berk, 2017).
While conducting the assessment, discussion about his peers and his classroom will be
conducted so that an instant rapport could be developed with the child. Further, with each
physical assessment, he will be provided with a lucid explanation so that he can understand the
importance of the process. Further these strategies will help in gaining the cooperation and
support from the child as he will be less restricted towards the assessment process and the
strategies could be used to address the developmental needs of the child.

3NURSING ASSIGNMENT
References
Berk, L. (2017). Development through the lifespan. Pearson Education India.
Carey, S., Zaitchik, D., & Bascandziev, I. (2015). Theories of development: In dialog with Jean
Piaget. Developmental Review, 38, 36-54.
Crain, W. (2015). Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory. In Theories of development:
Concepts and applications (pp. 132-170). Routledge.
Poitras, V. J., Gray, C. E., Borghese, M. M., Carson, V., Chaput, J. P., Janssen, I., ... & Sampson,
M. (2016). Systematic review of the relationships between objectively measured physical
activity and health indicators in school-aged children and youth. Applied Physiology,
Nutrition, and Metabolism, 41(6), S197-S239.
Tyler, K., MacDonald, M., & Menear, K. (2014). Physical activity and physical fitness of
school-aged children and youth with autism spectrum disorders. Autism research and
treatment, 2014.