The nurse and the family of the child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

• Main Authors: Dulce María Pereira García Galvão, Cátia Salomé Simões Marques, Dulce Natália Cunha Teixeira, Mariana Patricia Gonçalves Cunha
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Asociación Nacional de Psicología Evolutiva y Educativa de la Infancia Adolescencia Mayores y Discapacidad 2018-05-01
• Series: INFAD
• Subjects: transtorno autístico; família; papel do profissional de enfermagem
• Online Access: http://www.infad.eu/RevistaINFAD/OJS/index.php/IJODAEP/article/view/1274
• ISSN: 0214-9877; 2603-5987

The Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), global disturbances of child development, has an incidence of 4-5 per 10,000 births, prevalence in males (ratio of 4: 1), presents in three levels of severity that interfere in the life of the child, with impact on family dynamics and operation. Objectives: Knowing how the nursing appointment with the family of the child with ASD develops, identifying what the nurses assess and which care plans they develop when they assist the child’s family; understanding the difficulties of the nurses in the nursing appointment as well as the relationship they establish with the child’s family. Methods: Integrative Literature Review, to answer the question “At which aspects are the nurses attentive in the nursing appointment when they assist the family of the child with ASD?”. Bibliographic search in databases Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, MedicLatina, ERIC, Science Citation Index Expanded, SciVerse ScienceDirect, PMC, SCielo and Google Académico, selecting studies from 2009 to May/2015 in Portuguese, English and Spanish, using the descriptors “nurse”; “nursing”; “family”; “autism”; “autism spectrum disorder”; “knowledge” and the corresponding words in Portuguese. Seven articles were included. Results: The Nurses focus their actuation on the child, they assess the child development and the family knowledge about the disorder, identifying the family needs. The care plan is focused on the child, specifically, in which concerns to the routines and ritualized activities, without family specificities. The difficulties of the nurses are related to the lack of knowledge about the disorder and to the approach to the family. The relationship of the nurse with the family is based on trust, understanding and acceptance. The nurse plays a role of socializer and educator. Conclusion: The Nurses do not feel prepared to deal with the family, requiring training. They must direct their practices to the needs of parents and brothers.