Assessment in Pediatric Health Care

Catalog description

This course provides students with a foundational understanding of formal and informal screening and assessment processes and tools, as well as practice in focused observation, to enhance the provision of supportive services in the pediatric health care setting. Through a relationship-based, developmentally- focused, and culturally-sensitive lens, students will examine the role of ongoing assessment, as well as interact with a variety of tools that help to evaluate development, psycho-social risk, coping skills, and other factors required in providing holistic care to pediatric patients and their families. This course examines the inherent challenges and limitations of screening and assessment within the health-care setting, while also investigating the ways in which documenting information gleaned in the process can impact the delivery of care, support the decision-making of the interdisciplinary team, and inform interventions to reduce negative sequelae often associated with hospitalization and the medical treatment of young children. Students will focus on collaboration with primary caregivers as the experts about their children throughout the assessment process, as well as with health care providers from multiple disciplines around information sharing, provision of services, and plans of care. Students will gain hands-on experience with several screening and assessment tools, as well as charting and documentation practices specific to the health care setting.