Nursing Care of Infants, Children, and Adolescents: Exam 1 Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, assessment methods, communicable diseases, immunizations, and medical conditions presented across the pediatric nursing exam study guide.

Atraumatic care

A philosophy of pediatric care aimed at preventing or minimizing physical and psychological distress by preventing family separation, promoting a sense of control, and minimizing bodily injury and pain.

Consanguineous

A kinship relationship characterized by a biological or blood connection.

Affinal

A family relationship established through legal marriage.

Family of origin

The original family unit into which an individual is born.

Culture

A pattern of learned assumptions, beliefs, and practices that unconsciously guides a specific group as a "way of life," differing from race and ethnicity.

Paper-doll technique

A procedural preparation strategy where a pediatric patient is allowed to handle and practice with medical instruments (such as a stethoscope) on paper cutouts, a doll, or a peer to decrease anxiety.

Animism

A developmental cognitive trait seen in toddlers and preschoolers in which inanimate objects are perceived as having lifelike qualities and intentions.

Pediatric assent

The affirmative agreement of a child or adolescent to undergo a medical procedure or treatment, obtained alongside legal parental informed consent.

Chronic pain

Pain that persists continuously or recurrently for a duration of $3\text{ months}$ or more.

Recurrent pain

Episodic pain occurrences that repeat over a period of $3\text{ months}$ or more.

PICIC

The Pain Indicator for Communicatively Impaired Children, a specialized observational pain assessment instrument for children with communication impairments.

Primary prevention

Healthcare strategies and activities aimed at preventing an illness, injury, or disease process before it occurs, of which immunization is the cornerstone.

Herd immunity

A state of indirect community protection achieved when a sufficient proportion of a population is immune to an infectious disease, forming a shield that protects non-immune individuals.

Cocooning

The immunization strategy of vaccinating parents, family members, and close caregivers (critically with Tdap) to surround and protect an infant too young to be fully immunized.

Natural immunity

Innate biological resistance to specific infectious agents present from birth.

Acquired immunity

Immunity gained through exposure to an invading microorganism or foreign toxin.

Active immunity

Immune protection resulting from the body producing its own antibodies, acquired naturally via clinical infection or artificially via vaccination.

Passive immunity

Temporary immune protection conferred by transferring antibodies produced outside the body, such as maternal transplacental transfer or immunoglobulin transfusions.

Toxoid

A bacterial toxin treated to attenuate its harmful pathogenic effects while retaining its ability to stimulate antibody production in a vaccine.

Pediculosis capitis

Head lice infestation characterized by scalp itching; adult lice survive $48\text{ hours}$ off a human host, and females cement nits to hair shafts that incubate and hatch in $7\text{ to }10\text{ days}$.

Koplik spots

Small white lesions appearing on the oral buccal mucosa $2\text{ to }3\text{ days}$ after symptom onset that serve as a pathognomonic early sign of measles (rubeola).

Colic

Paroxysmal infant abdominal cramping and crying defined by the Rule of 3s: crying for more than $3\text{ hours/day}$, more than $3\text{ days/week}$, for more than $3\text{ weeks}$.

Cradle cap

A recurrent inflammatory scalp dermatosis in infants (seborrheic dermatitis) manifesting as thick, yellow, scaly, or oily patches.

Brief Resolved Unexplained Event (BRUE)

A sudden episode in an infant during the first 2 months of life lasting $30\text{ to }60\text{ seconds}$ characterized by cyanosis/pallor, absent/irregular breathing, tone changes, and altered responsiveness.

Kwashiorkor

A severe form of malnutrition caused primarily by an acute deficiency of dietary protein despite adequate caloric intake, characterized by peripheral edema.

Marasmus

A form of severe starvation and malnutrition characterized by total deficiency of both calories and protein, leading to severe emaciation and generalized wasting.

TEN-4-FACESp

A clinical bruising screening tool for abuse in children under 4: bruises on the Torso, Ears, Neck, Frenulum, Angle of jaw, Cheeks, Eyelids, Subconjunctivae, any bruise in an infant $\le 4\text{ months}$, or patterned ($p$) bruises.

Toxic stress

Prolonged, unmitigated activation of the body's stress response systems triggered by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) that impairs brain architecture, immune function, and learning.

Anorexia nervosa

A potentially fatal eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a minimal body weight ($<85\%$ of expected), severe body image distortion, relentless pursuit of thinness, and denial of illness.

Bulimia nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by repeated cycles of binge eating followed by inappropriate compensatory purging behaviors (vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercise) in which the patient recognizes the illness and typically maintains a near-normal weight.

Gender dysphoria

Clinically significant emotional distress resulting from a mismatch between an individual's internal gender identity and their sex assigned at birth.

Chandeliering

An anxiety-driven response in a child where an individual who previously seemed calm and regulated suddenly has an intense, unexpected behavioral eruption.

Encopresis

The repeated involuntary passage of stool into inappropriate places by a child beyond the developmental age of continence (typically $>4\text{ years}$), usually resulting from chronic constipation with liquid overflow.

Night terror

A sleep disturbance occurring $1\text{ to }4\text{ hours}$ after sleep onset during non-REM sleep, characterized by screaming, intense agitation, lack of responsiveness to comfort, and absence of memory of the event upon awakening.

Status asthmaticus

A life-threatening medical emergency marked by acute, severe asthma exacerbation that remains unresponsive to aggressive initial bronchodilator therapy, presenting with extreme respiratory distress or a silent chest.

Meconium ileus

Obstruction of the terminal ileum in newborns caused by abnormally thick and viscous meconium, serving as an early hallmark gastrointestinal manifestation of cystic fibrosis.

Steatorrhea

Excessive fat in feces causing bulky, frothy, foul-smelling stools, produced in cystic fibrosis due to pancreatic enzyme insufficiency.

Acute epiglottitis

A bacterial medical emergency caused by severe inflammation and edema of the supraglottic structures, presenting with high fever, sore throat, stridor, drooling, and tripod positioning; throat inspection is strictly prohibited.

Acute laryngotracheobronchitis (LTB)

The most common form of viral croup (parainfluenza virus) characterized by subglottic edema producing a barking or seal-like cough, inspiratory stridor, and suprasternal retractions.

Coarctation of the aorta

An obstructive cardiovascular defect characterized by narrowing of the aorta near the ductus arteriosus, resulting in high blood pressure and bounding pulses in the arms with diminished pulses, cool skin, and lower blood pressure in the legs.

Tetralogy of Fallot

A cyanotic congenital cardiac defect defined by four concurrent anomalies: ventricular septal defect (VSD), pulmonic stenosis, overriding aorta, and right ventricular hypertrophy.

Tet spell

A hypercyanotic episode in an infant with Tetralogy of Fallot triggered by agitation, crying, or feeding, alleviated by placing the infant into a knee-chest position.

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)

An acyanotic heart anomaly where the fetal vascular connection between the aorta and pulmonary artery fails to close, resulting in left-to-right shunting and a classic continuous machinery-like murmur.

Kawasaki disease

An acute, self-limiting systemic vasculitis primarily affecting children under 5, diagnosed by a fever lasting $>5\text{ days}$ plus 4 of 5 classic clinical criteria, which poses a serious risk of coronary artery aneurysms.

Vaso-occlusive crisis

The most common and painful crisis in sickle cell anemia, caused by rigid sickled red blood cells occluding microvasculature, leading to ischemia, tissue hypoxia, and infarction.

Splenic sequestration

A life-threatening sickle cell complication marked by rapid trapping and pooling of large volumes of blood in the spleen, resulting in splenomegaly, acute hypovolemic shock, and high mortality.

Acute chest syndrome

A life-threatening complication of sickle cell anemia characterized by fever ($\ge 100.4^\circ\text{F}$), acute chest pain, dyspnea, falling oxygen saturation, and new pulmonary infiltrates on chest imaging.

Hemarthrosis

Spontaneous or post-traumatic bleeding into synovial joint spaces (such as knees, ankles, or elbows), causing pain, swelling, and immobility in patients with hemophilia.

Dance sign

A physical exam finding in intussusception characterized by an empty, sunken sensation in the right lower quadrant due to upward telescoping of the ileum and cecum.

Intussusception

A gastrointestinal condition in which one segment of the bowel invaginates or telescopes into an adjacent section, producing acute colicky abdominal pain, screaming with knees to chest, a sausage-shaped mass, and currant jelly stools.

Hirschsprung disease

Congenital aganglionic megacolon caused by the developmental absence of parasympathetic ganglion cells in the colon, resulting in mechanical obstruction, failure to pass meconium, and ribbon-like stools.

Pyloric stenosis

Hypertrophy of the pyloric sphincter muscle causing gastric outlet obstruction, manifesting clinically with projectile non-bilious vomiting, persistent hunger, visible peristaltic waves, and an olive-shaped mass in the right epigastrium.

Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF)

A congenital malformation consisting of an abnormal communication between the trachea and esophagus, characterized by the 3 C's during feedings: coughing, choking, and cyanosis.

Nephrotic syndrome (MCNS)

A glomerular disorder characterized by increased permeability of the glomerular filtration membrane to plasma proteins, diagnosed by massive proteinuria, profound hypoalbuminemia, hyperlipidemia, and generalized edema.

Acute glomerulonephritis (AGN)

An immune-complex mediated inflammatory renal disease typically occurring following a group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection, presenting with hypertension, generalized edema, oliguria, and tea-colored urine.

Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)

An acute renal disorder triggered by bacterial Shiga-like toxins (typically $E.\text{ coli}$) characterized by the clinical triad of hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute renal failure.

Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR)

An abnormal retrograde flow of urine from the urinary bladder upward into the ureters and renal collecting systems, increasing the risk of febrile urinary tract infections and pyelonephritis.

Enuresis

Repeated involuntary or intentional voiding of urine into clothes or bed in children aged $5\text{ years}$ or older occurring at least twice weekly for a minimum of $3\text{ consecutive months}$.