Knowledge of Autism Leads to Best-Practice Nursing Care

AUTHOR:      DATE: June 12, 2012

Since 2001, when the Child Health Act was passed mandating surveillance and research on autism spectrum disorder, there has been consistent discourse and sustained interest regarding the topic  in popular and professional literature.  The focus, and rightly so, has been primarily on understanding the rising rate, risk factors, and causes.  Of course, the most worthy goal is to find a cause so we can find a cure.  But, until then we are neighbors, friends, caretakers, and observers of people affected by this disorder.  With a prevalence rate of 1 in 88 we will encounter someone with ASD.

As nurses, we are acutely aware of how much more difficult our job as healers becomes when we do not know or do not fully understand the needs of our patients.  For example, if we do not know a person has a genetic variant that makes him or her rapidly metabolize some medications, we might unknowingly continue giving dosages of a drug, waiting for the effect, but not knowing the medication has already been eliminated.  The therapeutic intent of the treatment is lost due to incomplete information.  In a parallel way, a nurse might expect and require rapt attention and meaningful eye contact from a patient during discharge planning (e.g., what to eat and do after surgery).  But, if the nurse does not know the patient has autism–perhaps a mild form–and that he or she has never be able to make eye contact or demonstrate undivided attention, this nurse might label the patient as uncooperative, disrespectful or incapable of learning.  The therapeutic intent of the interaction is similarly lost.

Nursing of Autism Spectrum Disorder Knowledge of Autism Leads to Best Practice Nursing CareSo, when you think about this example, it makes perfect sense to teach all nurses about autism spectrum disorder, because sooner or later they will be caring for a person who is on the autism spectrum. Knowing how and when to blend knowledge of ASD with nursing knowledge should be best practice nursing care. We presumed this highest level of care, when preparing our edited book, Nursing of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence-based Integrated Care across the Lifespan.  We considered the many different venues and health care services in which a nurse might encounter a person with ASD.

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  • Parthasarthi

    You might check with a local nursing temp agency to see if they need anyone in staffing. Otherwise, most nursing management requires an RN preferably a BSN or higher. And most health care organizations want someone with Healthcare Administration Degrees again a masters is the optimal degree for Healthcare Administration and then they often want a combination MSHA/MBAEDIT: I noted the second responders answer, however, in my experience, while LPN/LVNs are usually the charge nurses in long term care facilities, they usually require an RN to be the DON.

  • Sofie

    You could easily get a job managing a nursing home or even an assisted living facility. If you don’t want that, go for a job at an insurance company. They have nurse reviewers there, and the pay is not bad at all.

About the Author

Ellen Giarelli

Ellen Giarell, EdD, RN, CRNP.is an Associate Professor in the Doctoral Nursing Program in the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University, Philadelphia. She is Adjunct Associate Professor in the Biobehavioral Research Center of the University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing. Dr Giarelli received a BS in Nursing and a BS in Biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, a Masters Degree in Nursing from New York University, a Doctorate in Education from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Post-Doctoral education in Psychosocial Oncology and HIV/AIDS from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Before joining the faculty at Drexel University, Dr. Giarelli was Co-I of the CDC funded Study of Epidemiology of Early Development (SEED) and PI of an initiative funded by the Philadelphia Health Care Trust to integrate nursing into the care of people with ASD. She was Research Project Director of the UPENN School of Nursing CDC funded Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (CADDRE) and the Director of the Pennsylvania Autism and Developmental Disabilities Surveillance Program (PADDSP). In addition to the awards from the CDC, her funded projects included an R21 from NIH/NINR to study self-management of genetic disorders. She is a Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner in Pennsylvania and Investigator for several externally funded studies of autism spectrum disorders.