NURS 6512 BUILDING A HEALTH HISTORY I am working with A 16-year-old girl living in an inner-city neighborhood.  It’s no secret working with teenagers can be difficult.  

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NURS 6512 BUILDING A HEALTH HISTORY

I am working with A 16-year-old girl living in an inner-city neighborhood.  It’s no secret working with teenagers can be difficult.  As her nurse, I would introduce myself and explain my reasoning for talking with her.  Starting with honest and open discussion is an excellent way to establish a trusting relationship with this age group. “Adolescence is an important period during which risky behaviors and mental health concerns often develop, contributing to adolescent morbidity and mortality and increasing the risk of developing lifelong chronic conditions (Thompson, Wegman, Muller, Eddelton, et al., 2016)”.  This age group is not big on sharing with adults and tends not to want to talk about personal problems.  I would ask open-ended questions to avoid yes or no answers.

I would make sure the room is a quiet, well-lit environment.  I would ask any family members to step outside to provide privacy.  I will explain to my patient that everything that she discusses with me will be confidential.  “When you find a GP you and your child feel comfortable with, you can get to know each other and talk openly (Raising Children, n.d.)”.  Teens growing up in the inner city need to establish that trust to start and open communication.

Risk Assessment Tools:

Provider-initiated health risk assessment (HRA) screening and counseling

Adolescent Risk Assessment

Social Mental Health Assessment Tool

Violence Risk Assessment Tool

Bright futures tool

The tool I choose is the Adolescent Risk Assessment Tool, “Using a screening tool allows risky behaviors to be reviewed before talking with teens so that the provider can gather resources. It can help start the conversation, and, while still screening for multiple risks, allows the discussion and counseling to focus on the issues most affecting that teen (UMHS, 2016)”.   This tool will help me better understand my patient and narrow down her needs.

1. How is your diet at home?  Do you eat three meals a day? Are vegetables incorporated into your diet?

2. How often do you drink water or sodas? How often do you eat sweets?

3. How many hours a day do you spend online?  Do you spend much time having a face-to-face conversation with others?

4. Do you have a regular menstrual cycle?  Do you have painful menstrual cycles? If so, how often do you miss school due to painful cycles?

5. How well do you know your family health history? Any history of cardiac disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer?

I choose this risk assessment tool because it touches many areas such as daily lifestyle, health risks, and benefits and provides a way for the teen to develop open communication with her parents.

References

Raising Children.  (n.d.). Mental health professionals for teenagers: a guide. Retrieved from https://raisingchildren.net.au/pre-teens/mental-health-physical-health/mental-health-therapies-services/mental-health-professionals-for-teens 

Thompson, L. A., Wegman, M., Muller, K., Eddleton, K. Z., Muszynski, M., Rathore, M., De Leon, J., Shenkman, E. A., & Health IMPACTS for Florida Network (2016). Improving Adolescent Health Risk Assessment: A Multi-method Pilot Study. Maternal and child health journal, 20(12), 2483–2493. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2070-5 

UMHS. (2016). Adolescent Risk Screening. Retrieved from https://www.umhs-adolescenthealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/adolescent-risk-screening.pdf 

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