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Endocrine Abstracts (2012) 29 EN1.2

ICEECE2012 Endocrine Nurse Symposium (1) (10 abstracts)

The role of the endocrine nurse in puberty induction

Meg Keil



The adolescent/young adult who requires pubertal induction presents unique challenges to the health care team. Nurses serve as a key resource for patients and their families during the process of pubertal induction. Health promotion is the keystone of nursing practice and a developmental model is an appropriate framework to tailor nursing assessment and intervention to the adolescent/young adult’s developmental level. The nurse’s role in health promotion during pubertal induction may include: psychosocial and physical assessment, advocacy, case management, counseling, and patient education. Perhaps the most important component of the initial assessment prior to initiation of pubertal induction is for the nurse to address the patient and/or family member’s anxiety or fears in order to identify potential barriers to initiation of and/or compliance with treatment. Typical patient/family concerns include: body image, short stature, final height, social interaction, physical and emotional changes, what to expect during treatment, possible side effects, fertility, and selection and cost of treatment. The endocrine nurse also provides education and advice to patients and their families regarding: normal puberty, effects of pubertal delay, diagnostic testing, goals and expectations of treatment, options for sex steroid replacement, possible side effects of treatment, clinical monitoring of treatment, and sexuality. In addition, the role of the endocrine nurse includes providing reinforcement of medical information discussed with endocrine health care team and facilitation of communication with the primary health-care provider, school nurse, and insurance provider. Part of counseling the patient/family includes referral to appropriate resources such as patient support groups, social work, genetic counseling, and patient education literature/web sites. Future studies are needed to identify effective intervention models for health promotion that include outcome measures such as quality of life, patient satisfaction, and cost effectiveness.

Volume 29

15th International & 14th European Congress of Endocrinology

European Society of Endocrinology 

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