Working together as a team: adolescent transplant recipients and nurse practitioners. Prog Transplant 2011 Dec;21(4):288-93, 298
Date
05/03/2012Pubmed ID
22548989DOI
10.1177/152692481102100406Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84863580133 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 4 CitationsAbstract
Nurse practitioners are a critical part of the transplant team, enhancing the quality of patient care with their knowledge and skill with respect to disease-specific populations of patients. Adolescent transplant recipients are a vulnerable population and require specific considerations. Nurse practitioners can successfully tailor care to the adolescent developmental stages in order to promote quality of life, adherence to the medical regimen, and successful transition to adult transplant centers and to minimize risk-taking behaviors. Teamwork between the patient's family and the entire transplant team is important to optimize not only the patient's health but also to ensure quality of life after transplant. Adolescents can be especially challenging after transplant, given their complex and evolving psychosocial and cognitive development. Nurse practitioners are in a unique position to be central in adolescents' successful adaptation to their medical condition. Facilitating identification and management of medication-related side effects, awareness of emotional health and quality of life, adherence to the medical regimen, and eventual transition to adult caregivers all remain critically important steps in care that are ideally suited for advance practice leadership.
Author List
Lerret SM, Stendahl GAuthor
Stacee Lerret PhD Professor Hybrid in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Adaptation, PsychologicalAdolescent
Adolescent Development
Child
Humans
Medication Adherence
Nurse Practitioners
Organ Transplantation
Risk Reduction Behavior
Young Adult
