Nursing Care for Children vs. Adults

Nursing Care for Children vs. Adults

• Child development is distinct from adult development; children are not simply small adults.
• Nurses interacting with children may need to fulfill multiple roles: nurse, nurturer, friend, caregiver, and confidant.
• Childcare involves understanding developmental milestones across multiple domains.

Developmental Milestones

• Physical Maturation: Focuses on gross and fine motor skills, height/weight changes, head circumference, maturation of body systems, puberty, and immunization schedules.
• Cognitive Maturation: Involves language development and understanding of various developmental theories such as those proposed by Erikson, Piaget, Freud, and Kohlberg for comprehension on learning/development and disabilities.