Please click the attachment below to view a graphic organizer about sleep deprivation and its growth/ development effects on pediatric patients. The citation and name of the article is provided in the graphic organizer if you wish to further read about this topic.
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The essential question I am interested in researching is, how does lack of sleep affect growth and development in children? What changes can be made to help future generations reduce risks associated with sleep deprivation? I chose to focus my research on this topic because day-by-day more and more children and teenagers are becoming affected by this issue. I believe it to vital for parents, guardians and children themselves to be able to understand how daily routine affects development and growth, long-term. To best- showcase my project I envision myself creating an informative and interactive website as well as appealing brochures to hand-out to my target audience. In order to enhance my project and conduct a "real inquiry" I plan on conducting more interviews with different professionals with this area of expertise. As of now I have conducted one basic interview to find the simple questions that make a base for my research but as I progress further I believe it is important to interview and collect opinions and facts from different professionals.
1) How many patients do you see throughout the year that have health issues relating to their sleep?
Mentor: 10-15 per month so that adds to around 50-60 per year! Reflection: To be honest, I was expecting the number to be much larger than this. I feel that this number would be higher if more parents and children were able to identify this in the first place. 2) Generally, what is the age group that is most affected by this ongoing issue? Mentor: New borns, high school students, teens that work, do extracurricular and attend school Reflection: I agree with is but I relate more to the teens because even though I do not work, I get very stressed throughout the week with my academic work with changes my sleep cycle every day. 3) From a medical professional's standpoint, what are the growth and developmental issues children have due to the lack of sleep? Mentor: lack of concentration, irritation, anger, mood swings, depression, blood pressure, anxiety, and disturbed eating patterns. Reflection: All these growth and developmental factors are concerning but personally I relate to the lack of concentration and random eating habits factors. 4) What techniques, medications, and/ or technologies have already been developed in an effort to help the children experiencing side-effects from lack of sleep? Mentor: sleep hygiene, distraction techniques, avoiding caffeine/ sugar, exercise for healthy sleep, less screen-time especially in evening/night, keep to a regular daily routine, never use sending your child to bed as a threat, maintain a sleep diary, and finally if home remedies don't seem to work ask pediatrician about prescribed medicine, melatonin. Reflection: My parents have always followed these techniques, especially when I was younger but now they just let me decide on my sleep schedule. My mom tries to remind me to sleep and wake up earlier but with my school work I sometimes find it impossible to sleep before 11:30pm. 5) When patients come to the clinic, what do here most commonly as to why they experience the lack of sleep? What is the leading cause? Mentor: too much screen-time, school work stress, some have complaints about not being able to identify reason for why they cannot sleep well. Reflection: I can relate to the high school students reason without doubt. I know for a fact that my homework and constant focus on my computer screen doesn't allow me to sleep. 6) To what degree does the child's sleep and work environments affect their sleep? What role does technology have in lack of sleep in children? Mentor: Screen-time 1 hour before bed time causes disturbances in sleep because the lights and waves awaken the brain making us more alert rather than sleepy. Reflection: This is very true and I finally understand the importance now after researching even though my mom has told me several times before. 7) How should their daily work and sleep environment look like? What are some "home-remedy" solutions for a child who has recently begun experiencing disrupted sleep patterns? Mentor: Screen-free bedroom, phones and anything with bright lights should be off and away from bed about 1 hour before sleeping, dim lights, relaxation music, read book not phone, keep constant sleep schedule throughout week. Reflection: My room is TV-free, the only screen I have in my room is my phone which I place on the night stand across my side of the bed, before I sleep. 8) What are some key indications that the child is experiencing the right amount of sleep? What does the correct sleep pattern for children classify as? Mentor: Infants 4 to 12 months – 12 to 16 hours (including naps), Toddlers 1 to 2 years – 11 to 14 hours (including naps), 3 to 5 year old children – 10 to 13 hours (including naps), 6 to 12 year old children – 9 to 12 hours, Teens 13 to 18 years – 8 to 10 hours. Reflection: I without doubt do not receive enough sleep for my age. I generally sleep at1am and wake up by 6:30 am Monday to Friday. On the weekends I get too much sleep but that is only because I lack that sleep during the week. 9) How big is the role of parents in their child's lack of sleep issue? How do you think they can encourage better sleep and might discourage proper sleep? Mentor: Some parents work late so they don't set a specific bedtime for their young ones, some parents follow the rule that when their child is sleepy they will sleep and some parents work their children too much by making them study a lot. All three of these are bad parenting techniques as far as sleep is concerned. Parents should set reasonable bedtimes for young children. They should make sure their older children are not too stressed with work and school. Parents need to make observations like the following: - Does your child fall asleep in the car almost every time you drive with them? - Do you have to wake your child up almost every morning? - Does your child seem overtired, cranky, irritable, aggressive, over-emotional, hyperactive, or have trouble thinking during the day? - On some nights, does your child “crash” much earlier than their usual bedtime? Reflection: My parents do a fairly good job of reminding of my sleep and the risks of not receiving enough sleep. 10) In your opinion, what changes can be made, that have not already been made, to help future generations reduce risks associated with sleep deprivation? (Technologies, Medications, Home-remedies) Mentor: Not that I am aware of specifically as of now. Reflection: Technology development and research about this topic is on-going. Interview was with Dr. Naidu (DNP)- works with Piedmont Health Care |
AuthorAs a participant in the Honors Mentorship Program, I will be job shadowing a pediactic doctor. I will be learning about and experiencing the pediatrics field, first hand. Archives
April 2018
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