Cerebral dysfunction is caused by disorders occurring in specific or large areas of the brain. Evidence that a child is suffering from cerebral dysfunction show up in areas of the body such as emotional control, intellectual functioning, sensory function and lastly may manifest as seizures. The severity of the dysfunction depends on the location of the damaged brain tissue and the size of the affected part of the brain.
Seizures and How They Manifest
Seizures in a child are caused by abnormal nerve cell activity and can be limited to a specific part of the brain or affect the whole brain which result in sudden recurrent seizures (Engel, 2013) . Seizures in children are caused by brain defects, stroke, head trauma, developmental or genetic abnormalities. These seizures may lead to a chronic neurological disorder called epilepsy. A child with cerebral dysfunction such as seizures can be suffering from convulsive or non-convulsive seizures. Convulsive seizures happen when the muscles of the child jerk uncontrollably for a couple of minutes followed by a period called postictal where the child is usually drowsy and disoriented. For non-convulsive seizures the child losses awareness and stares blindly for a while then returns to normal.
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Symptoms Presented by Patient
During a seizure excessive electrical signals in the brain affects its normal activities which in turn disrupt the normal functioning of the body depending on the location of the seizure. A child with seizures usually display a range of symptoms, during the seizure a child may experience difficulty breathing causing them to turn blue from oxygen deprivation (Kyle, 2008) . Children are unresponsive and may sometime loss consciousness and may fall causing injuries. Other symptoms include the contraction of face muscles, trunk and limb muscles during which the child may pass urine involuntarily, moan or cry. A child may also display infantile spasms consisting of spasms of muscle groups that happen suddenly, putting the child in a flexed state. Sometimes seizure presents as short episodes where the child blinks or stares with no awareness of the happenings and afterwards have no recollection of the events.
Family and Patient Stressors
Stressors are internal and external forces surrounding a person, with which they interact with and can affect their flexible and normal line of defense resulting in a negative or positive outcome. One stressor is stigma, there is general stigmatization of people with epilepsy or seizures which alienates families of children with epilepsy causing social problems and instability. Stigma in school leads to the child being withdrawn and depressed which can be detrimental to their health. More than a third of mothers to children with chronic or onset epilepsy suffer from depression (Caplan, 2015) . Depression in a mother to a child with seizures causes them to fail in coping with the duty of running a family, dealing with stress or parenting a child with cerebral dysfunction. A child who has been having seizures or with chronic epilepsy is likely to fail school which leads to stress and further damage to the child’s health. Parents of children suffering from epilepsy or seizures have a high chance of divorcing which usually have negative effects on children especially one suffering from epilepsy (Spangenberg & Lalkhen, 2006) .
Nursing Diagnosis
Some nursing diagnosis for patients with seizures include; ineffective airway clearance due to tongue blockage and endotracheal and more saliva secreted, risk of injury to the patient due to uncontrollable jerking movements, ineffective breathing patterns caused by apnea and dyspnea, disruption in nerve sensory organs causes impairment of sensory perception and lastly a risk of ineffective cerebral tissues perfusion due to decrease of oxygen levels in the brain (Johnson, 2014) .
Labs, Diagnostic Tests and Medications
An electroencephalogram, which is a test that measures the brain activities in the child will be recommended in order to diagnose the cause of some seizures such as a complex febrile seizure (Fisch, 2009) . In the event the child presents symptoms such as signs of increased pressure inside the skull seizures that last for an abnormally long period of time, a head larger than usual or unusual neurological examination the nurse or doctor will recommend an MRI to check the child’s brains. Brain scan such as MRI provide a detailed image of the child’s brain that help rule out other disorders such as brain tumor or stroke (Wallace & Farrell, 2014) . A child having seizures is usually prescribed seizure-prevention medications or non-convulsant drugs, these drugs do not treat the disorder in the brain but rather treat the symptoms of the cerebral dysfunction by reducing how frequent the seizures are (Zaoutis & Chiang, 2007) .
Conclusion: Discussion Questions
How long does a child having seizures need to take medication for the seizures to stop? How does the age of the child affect their perception to drugs or the nature of the diagnosis? How much special care does a child suffering from cerebral dysfunction such as seizure require? How difficult is it for nurses to diagnose a child with seizures? What are examples of activities that nurses need the parents of the child to help with in ensuring the care of the child with cerebral dysfunction such as seizures is effective.
References
Caplan, R. (2015). Epilepsy and Parent Stress: The Chicken and the Egg Dilemma. Epilepsy Currents, 15 (1), 13-14. doi:10.5698/1535-7597-15.1.13
Engel, J. (2013). Seizures and Epilepsy. North Carolina: Oxford University Press.
Fisch, B. J. (2009). Epilepsy and Intensive Care Monitoring: Principles and Practice. New York: Demos Medical Publishing.
Johnson, A. (2014). Epilepsy- Nursing assessment, Nursing diagnosis, goal, interventions, patient education. NSGMED Nursing journals , 1-5.
Kyle, T. (2008). Essentials of Pediatric Nursing. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Spangenberg, J. J., & Lalkhen, N. (2006). Children with epilepsy and their families: Psychosocial issues. South African Family Practice, 48 (6), 60-63. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/20786204.2006.10873411
Wallace, S. J., & Farrell, K. (2014). Epilepsy in Children, 2E. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Zaoutis, L. B., & Chiang, V. W. (2007). Comprehensive Pediatric Hospital Medicine. London: Elsevier Health Sciences.
