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Kaitlyn

Communicating with you Child’s Healthcare Professional

Updated: Feb 28, 2023

Sick kids are super tough because they don’t have all the vocabulary to tell you what’s going

on with their little bodies. This post aims to help parents become detectives when it comes to their sick child and how to relay that in an effective matter to their healthcare professional.

When you notice your child feeling warm, irritable, and just not right but no other noticeable symptoms it’s time to assess. The best tool is yourself. You know your child. Is your child well looking, sleeping too much, not responding well? That gut feeling is always something to abide by with sick Kids. If you feel it’s an emergency don’t wait, seek immediate medical attention. If it is not an emergency take the time to gather information to share with your healthcare team.

If you can take a pulse and a temperature that is a great place to start. A pulse is the child heart rate, your healthcare team can use this to help diagnose your kiddo. Taking a pulse on

a baby is pretty easy right above the elbow on the inside but don’t apply too much pressure. A pulse on a young child is easily taken on the inside of the wrist. Write down your findings for number of beats in a minute. Next, if you have a thermometer take a temperature. Write down your findings and what route you used to get the temperature. In babies a rectal thermometer is recommended. In older kids under the armpit or tongue is easiest. These 2 numbers can help when speaking with your healthcare team.

After some simple data collecting, it’s time to look at each system in their body. This is not going to be a full blown nursing education but simple knowledge parents should know. There are different systems and narrowing which one helps your healthcare team with a diagnosis and supportive care. Look at skin for rashes, raised areas, bruising, and/or anything new. Listen to your child breath. Does it sound like whistling and/or is it hard for them to move air in and out. Is there a cough, use other sounds to mimic the sound like barking or harsh. Describe if there is mucous, the color and how thick it is. Mucous will not only make a show in the sinuses but often times they back up in the eyes and ears so secondary eye and ear infections can occur. Observe their feeding for decreased intake, monitor their bowels and kidneys. Note the amount and consistency if vomiting and/or diarrhea as well as changes in their urine amount or color. Do they have any issues moving limbs or with coordination? Recording these assessments can be the key to finding out what’s going on.

Each Pediatrician’s office offers a sick kid line, utilizing the information you have collected, call and see what the nurses recommendations are, and if they need to be seen in the office. If an office visit is needed these finding can be great to share with your team. A lot of treating viruses in kids is the havoc they cause on comorbidities (disorders/diseases the child already lives with) and when they are back to back. An immune system that is already stressed leaves kids vulnerable in circumstances they wouldn’t normally be affected by. Sharing all the information you as the parent have collected helps your child’s healthcare team care for them the best they can.



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