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Autism as a brand and nurse's apart in collaboration with family.
KOTKOVÁ, Michaela
Autism spectrum disorders, as some of psychiatric disorders, which also include childhood autism, atypical autism, Asperegs´syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and Rett syndrome, are considered to be significant anomalies in children´s development, which are characterized by problems in communication, social interaction and behavior. These are the typical symptoms creating barriers between children and their families, medical personnel, or environment. Despite all efforts to improve the care for children with autism spectrum disorders, the situation is generally unsatisfying. Counseling services are not available in all regions and specialized preschool and school facilities are missing in a lot of places. Also, specialists´ awareness is often insufficient and even in health care facilities unfamiliarity with the issue of children with autism spectrum disorders may be seen. On the part of the public a negative reaction, misunderstanding and prejudice against these children and their families are still being expressed, making autism spectrum disorders stigmatizing. A nurse as a professional provides the care through the nursing process, in which her role consists not only in provision of the direct nursing care, but she also takes on the role of the child´s rights advocate and a mediator for information exchange between the child, the parent, the doctor and herself. In the care of children with autistic spectrum disorders, a nurse provides not only nursing care, but also educational care with the aim to support the child's development. In order to succeed in her efforts, the nurse needs a large portion of empathy, patience and communication skills and all the support and cooperation on the part of the child's parents. The above conclusions are related to objectives of the research carried out using in-depth interviews, during which we wanted to determine if this disease is stigmatizing for families caring for a child with autism and also the way a nurse participates in cooperation with the family. The third objective was to define the specifics of nursing care for children with autism spectrum disorders, from which standards of nursing care for these children were established. Based on the objectives and the study of available resources, four research questions were stated. First: Is the disease stigmatizing for families caring for a child with autism? Second: What is the impact of autism on families caring for a child with this disease? Third: What is the way a nurse participates in cooperation with families caring for a child with autism? And fourth: What are the specifics of nursing care for a child with autism? All the objectives were met. We hope that this thesis will provide nurses with so much information on the issue of nursing care for children with autism spectrum disorders, so that nurses could provide quality care based on the child's needs, and the cooperation with the family could become beneficial and joyful.
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