Needs of teenagers with chronic disability

Transitioning care of the pediatric recipient to adult caregivers

The development of transitional care is one of the major challenges for the twenty-first century as the survival rates and medical outcomes for child and adolescent recipients of solid organ transplants continue to improve. Such developments must include pediatric and adult care providers and require training of professionals in both arenas. Transition is a process in which the transfer to adult care is only one event within that process. The key elements of transition for pediatric recipients are discussed, and the importance of a coordinated, structured, multidisciplinary approach involving the adolescents themselves is highlighted.

The practice nurse's role in the management of epilepsy

Epilepsy is a serious and common neurological condition of which the medical, psychological and social implications are far-reaching. This article aims to discuss the practice nurse's role in responding to the needs of clients with epilepsy. This is explored from a primary health care perspective, focusing on nursing interventions and implications for practice. The potential exists for community nursing intervention to improve quality of life for clients through responsive service provision and by challenging the inequality that appears to exist with regard to it. The available research is overtly pharmacological in origin and nursing research in this field is extremely sparse.