Acute Care Setting Summary

With the rate of ASD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, diagnoses rising, nurses need a better understanding of ASD (Scarpinato). Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disability with various symptoms. Some ASD individuals are highly intelligent but lack social skills, while others have no social skills at all. In the article, “ Caring For The Child With An Autism Spectrum Disorder In The Acute Care setting”, by Nina Scarpinato, et al, the authors explain what ASD is and how health care workers can help ASD children cope in an acute care setting.

The authors of this article wanted to insure that healthcare workers knew how to help ASD children cope in an acute care setting. They agreed that having an efficient care plan specific to a child unique needs is helpful for both the patient and the healthcare worker. To create an efficient care plan an accurate assessment must be made of the child. Each ASD child has different symptoms and respond differently in situations. Another way to help ASD children cope in an acute care setting is by developing a communication system and by adapting care for each child. Since impaired social skills is a common symptom of ASD, nurses will have to

When caring for ASD children, healthcare workers need help coping as well. Some ASD children become hostile and refuse to cooperate in new settings. The article does not state the challenges healthcare workers face when caring for ASD children and how to deal with them in undesirable situations. The article does not show how successful their strategies are in real life. It only shows different examples, how to implement the strategies, and the expected outcome. It does not include the parents input and the behaviors they face. Many parents experience new behaviors when taking their child to an unfamiliar setting. It also does not list other methods on how to deal with ASD