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The Ultimate Guide On How To Become A Pediatric Nurse
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Division Of General Academic Pediatrics
Advocacy for the needs of all children, but particularly for the underserved, is a major focus of Saint Louis University's Division of General Academic Pediatrics.
Through quality patient care, innovative education, creative research and vigorous advocacy, the Division of General Academic Pediatrics of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine partners with patients, parents and the community to assure that the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of this and future generations of children will be met with competence, dignity, justice and compassion.
AdvocacyOur division members also serve on countless community boards, including Catholic Charities, the St. Louis Special School District, Head Start, and many others.
General academic pediatric faculty members play key roles in both Saint Louis University and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital administration which directly impact patient care including the following:
Our faculty members are recognized for their interest and expertise in the education of students at all levels, including prospective physician assistants, medical students, residents and community physicians. The division has won eight of the last eleven Golden Apple Awards by the graduating classes from the School of Medicine.
Members of the division have also been awarded innumerable teaching awards by the residents in pediatrics, and have been cited as excellent teachers by several other disciplines.
Teaching is provided at Danis Pediatric Center, on the general ward services, in the well baby nursery at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital, through formal and informal conferences for students and residents, and in specialty clinics staffed by general academic pediatrics faculty.
Marta King, M.D., serves as the associate director of medical student education.
ServicesOur division members provide a wide variety of medical services to patients at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital. Danis Pediatric Center is the primary care practice of SLU's Department of Pediatrics, serving as the medical home for approximately 10,000 patients with 16,000 visits per year.
The patients cared for at Danis Pediatric Center often have more serious acute and chronic medical problems and more social/economic problems than patients in a typical pediatric practice. The general academic pediatrics faculty, including the hospitalists in the division, provide general pediatric attending inpatient coverage for the general pediatric inpatient teams.
The division also provides attending physician coverage for the well baby nursery at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital. The Medical Diagnostic Clinic, a consultation service for referring physicians, is also offered by our faculty.
Our division members have broad expertise, with special interest in failure to thrive, adoption medicine, community pediatrics, advocacy, urinary tract infections, voiding dysfunction, adolescent health care, sports medicine, the effect of media on children, health care needs of gay and lesbian youth, international child health, endocrinology, developmental delay, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, newborn medicine, neurofibromatosis and care of the child with special health care needs.
Core ServicesThe Division of General Academic Pediatrics is involved in a broad array of research projects, collaborating with investigators from other divisions within the Department of Pediatrics, other disciplines within Saint Louis University and with researchers from other institutions.
Joshua Arthur, M.D.Josh Arthur, M.D., has received a grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Missouri Foundation for a collaboration project between the pediatric residency program and a mobile farmer's market to provide education, nutrition resources and food access in a food desert. He has also participated in a study to determine the efficacy of text messaging to effect health care utilization.
Kenneth Haller, M.D.Kenneth Haller, M.D., has given local and regional presentations in toxic stress in children, immunization training and health care issues and LGBT community.
M. Susan Heaney, M.D., M.P.H.M. Susan Heaney, M.D., M.P.H., is the pediatric member of the steering committee for the HRSA-funded Academic Administrative Units in Primary Care Grant.
The purpose of the proposed project, the Saint Louis University Primary Care Training Center, is to form a collaborative between the divisions of family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics. The overarching goal of this collaboration is to increase the numbers of medical students and residents choosing primary care as their profession.
The proposal has four primary objectives:
Dr. Heaney is the site investigator for the Continuity Research Network (CORNET) of the Academic Pediatric Association and is currently involved in a project to improve HPV vaccination in adolescent patients in Resident Continuity Clinics.
She is a co-investigator in a positive parenting program funded by the St. Louis Mental Health Board. Dr. Heaney has also participated as a subject matter expert in the development of a revised AAP Education in Quality Improvement for Pediatric Practice (EQUIPP) Bright Futures course.
Gene LaBarge, M.D.Gene LaBarge, M.D., is a co-investigator on funded grants to identify and treat postpartum depression in St. Louis city mothers, as well as several grants to asses food insecurity and to develop collaboration between a pediatric residency and a mobile farmer's market.
Jennifer Ladage, M.D.Jennifer Ladage, M.D., is the primary investigator for the Pediatric Refugee Comprehensive Health Care Initiative Grant funded by the Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis, Missouri to improve health care access, including home nurse visits, for refugee families. She has presented her work with International Adoptees and Refugees at local, regional and international meetings.
Shahida R. Naseer, M.D.Shahida R. Naseer, M.D., has been active in completing various quality assessment and improvement projects, including timely completion of medical records and immunization rates, for the division and the Danis Pediatric Center.
Heidi M. Sallee, M.D.Heidi M. Sallee, M.D., is involved in a multicenter collaboration project through the Continuity Research Network of the APA to improve HPV immunization rates. She has collaborated with faculty at SLU's College of Public Health and Social Justice developing a novel parenting tool designed to prevent accidental childhood injury. Dr. Sallee has also collaborated with a funded Ph.D. Researcher in SLU's Department of Family and Community Medicine to develop and test a curriculum for pediatric resident to screen teens for depression and suicidality.
Publications PublicationsAsthma In Children: What Parents Should Know
Learning to use an inhaler is vital for children with asthma. Stock.Adobe.Com
In the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asthma affects 6.5% of children and for some, it can be life-threatening. There is no known cure for asthma, which means that lifelong awareness, understanding and management of this condition is vital for a young patient's quality of life.
Causes and symptoms
"Asthma is a disease of the lungs that involves two main components: bronchospasm and inflammation of the airway. Bronchospasm happens when there is a sudden constriction or tightening of the muscles surrounding the airways," said Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency medicine physician and senior medical adviser for PM Pediatric Care, a leading pediatric health care provider network that has recently partnered with Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
"Kids with asthma tend to have hypersensitive airway tissues, which react to various triggers and irritants. Essentially, bronchospasm is an exaggerated response that can cause the airway lining to become inflamed and thus constricted," Johns said.
When this happens, it may become difficult for air to flow in and out of the lungs. As a result, a child may experience coughing and shortness of breath — the typical symptoms of asthma. The most well-known sign is wheezing, but many children with asthma may also describe having a tight feeling in the chest, as well as signs of respiratory distress such as nasal flaring and rapid breathing rate.
Triggers and management
Asthma exacerbations, or "attacks," can be triggered by various factors such as allergens, respiratory infections, exercise, cold air, smoke, pets or other irritants in the environment. Some people are more sensitive to certain triggers than others, so the experience of asthma varies from person to person. Change of seasons tends to bring on more environmental triggers, so symptoms can worsen during these times of year.
Because asthma often starts in childhood, it's important for affected kids to be their own health agents — to be knowledgeable and proactive about their condition early on with the support of their parents and caregivers. It's a good idea to teach children about the following:
• Signs and symptoms of asthma exacerbations.
• Appropriate response to an asthma exacerbation (asthma action plan).
• Self-advocacy skills — speak up when you start to feel symptoms!
• Personal triggers and how to minimize them.
"It's also important to stress the importance of abstaining from smoking or vaping to children, as these actions will exacerbate the disease. Households with high respiratory sensitivity may benefit from not owning pets," said Johns.
"Children who wheeze regularly may be prescribed some controller medicines. Inhaled corticosteroids are commonly used. These should be used daily as they are preventive medicines, unlike albuterol and others, which are used as rescue medications during an acute exacerbation."
Emergency response and care
In the best-case scenario, when a child gets diagnosed with asthma, their pediatrician works with the family to create an asthma action plan — a detailed, personalized document that outlines the appropriate response if an asthma episode occurs. Following this plan is crucial for the well-being of the child. All of the child's caregivers should receive copies of the asthma plan and be ready to act in case of emergency.
Sometimes, an asthma attack can be mild with no signs of respiratory distress, but it's always smart to start by sitting the child upright and checking the ABCs:
• Airway: Make sure that nothing is obstructing their breathing.
• Breathing: Check for normal breathing by watching the chest rise and fall, listening for breath sounds, and feeling for airflow at the nose or mouth.
• Circulation: Check for a pulse and signs of circulation, such as skin color and temperature.
After assessing the ABCs and the child's level of alertness, administer nebulizing treatment/rescue medicine according to the child's asthma action plan. This would usually be done via a nebulizer machine or an inhaler; remember to use a spacer for the most effective treatment.
Seek immediate medical attention at an emergency center or urgent care, such as PM Pediatric Urgent Care, in case of the following:
• No rescue medication is available on hand.
• The ABC (airway, breathing, circulation) check fails.
• The child is exhibiting signs of severe respiratory distress, such as:
≻Severe difficulty breathing, wheezing, persistent coughing that doesn't improve with medication.
≻Pale or blue lips or fingertips.
≻Difficulty speaking; inability to speak in complete sentences.
≻Worsening symptoms.
Learn more
Knowledge and awareness are keys to proactively managing asthma in children and adults. The CDC website, www.Cdc.Gov/asthma, has an expansive information page for asthma.
Additionally, check out PM Pediatric Care's blogs on respiratory distress signals and managing chronic conditions, such as asthma, which can be found at pmpediatriccare.Com/blog.
• Children's health is a continuing series. This column was provided by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. PM Pediatric Care, a national pediatric health care leader operating the largest pediatric urgent care network in the U.S., and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, the largest independent academic pediatric medical center in the Chicagoland area, are partnering to serve area families with best-in-class urgent care for children and young adults.
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