NSG 3600 Exam 2 | Nursing Practice – Children’s Health | (2026) Study Guide PDF | Galen

NSG 3600
EXAM 2 STUDY GUIDE
Nursing Practice – Children’s Health

Galen College of Nursing

,NSG 3600: Children’s Health— Exam #2
Unit 3 & 4 Review/Study Guide
Mendellin
Includes: Book, Jones PPT, GALEN PPT, Key points


UNIT 4 Respiratory

Developmental Aspects of Respiratory system
Newborn  Children under the age of 6 are abdominal breathers
 Respiratory rate 30-50 bpm rather than thoracic breathers and have weak
 Airway is narrow intercostal muscles that cannot facilitate
 Newborns are obligatory nose breathers, they respiration
do not breathe through their mouths
 More likely to have non-productive coughs  Retractions are a pulling in of the soft tissue of the
more susceptible to respiratory infections chest wall with inspiration and occur when the
 Trachea ~4 mm in diameter accessory muscles are used for breathing this is
an abnormal finding and requires the nurse to
Toddler conduct a thorough respiratory assessment
 Respiratory rate at 1 year is 20-40
 Respiratory rate at 3 years is 20-30  Trachea in children is shorter and narrower in
 Decrease in risk of infections diameter than in adults
 Abdominal breathers

Preschooler 3-6
 Respiratory rate at 3 years is 20-30
 Respiratory rate at 6 years is 16-22

School age 6-12
 Respiratory rate at 6 years is 16-22
 Respiratory rate at 10 years is 16-20

Adolescent 12-18
 Respiratory rate at 14 years is 14-20
 Respiratory rate at 18 years is 16-20



Respiratory distress
 Grunting  Fever
 Nasal flaring  Anorexia
 Retractions  Vomiting
 Cyanosis  Nasal blockage
 Tachypnea  Nasal discharge (thin & watery)
 Agitation/Excessive fussiness




Nursing Management of Respiratory Illness

,  Ease respiratory efforts
 Promote rest
Promote comfort
 Prevent spread of infection
 Reduce temperature
 Promote hydration/nutrition
 Provide family support
 Pharmacological therapy if age is appropriate



Cystic Fibrosis
 Inherited autosomal recessive disorder (causes obstruction of sodium chloride) that
severely impairs lung function and causes dysfunction in other organs/tissues that make
either mucus or sweat.
 Causes production of thick mucus that blocks exocrine glands and affects several body
systems, including respiratory, gastrointestinal, and reproductive by plugging the organ
ducts that leads to organ failure.
 Most common cause of chronic respiratory disease in children
 Exocrine gland dysfunction that produces multisystem involvement


S/S: Respiratory:
Multisystem  Crackles
 Wheezes
 Diminished breath sounds
 Production cough
 Tachypnea, hypoxia, cyanosis
 Atelectasis and emphysema


Gastrointestinal:
 Gastrointestinal tract symptoms:
 Meconium ileus at birth
 Prolonged jaundice
 Steatorrhea
 Rectal prolapse
 Excretion of undigested food in stool; increased bulk, frothy, and
foul
 Biliary cirrhosis
 Failure to thrive
 Pancreatic enzyme deficiency


Integumentary:
 Salty-tasting tears and skin parents report child taste salty


Common  Dehydration
characteristics  Underweight
 Barrel chest