Scott Fears - 3/12/12

I spent my first two days of clinical work in the Policlinica in Chitre, Panama. On Monday I spent a majority of my time with a nurse in the pediatric unit who was dedicated to assessing the development of children from newborn to 15 years of age. She focused on seven primary areas of development (including cognitive, emotional, motor coordination, etc.) and made sure that each child was progressing at a proper pace for his/her developmental milestones. She used various physical, motor, cognitive, and emotional testing approaches to determine each child’s development. In addition, she made sure that each child was on schedule with his vaccination regimen. Lastly, the nurse asked multiple questions about the child’s diet and educated both the child (if old enough) and the parent on the necessity of good nutrition. If for some reason a child appeared to be lagging in a particular area of development, the nurse could recommend that the child see a specialist for further evaluation. I was impressed with the amount of time that each patient received and the effort that the nurse placed into patient education.