Childhood Glaucoma and the Nurse's Role Research Paper

Childhood Glaucoma and the Nurse's Role - Research Paper Example Glaucomas are majorly classified into two classes depending on the angle that the iris of the eye forms with the cornea at the anterior chamber of the eye. The two classifications are open-angle and closed-angle glaucoma. They may also be divided into primary types or secondary types. Childhood glaucoma is a very dangerous disorder due to the fact that the child may develop blindness and other eye complications if at all the condition are not corrected early. To suffer blindness at such an early age would make life difficult for the child. It may also make the life of the parents difficult as they attend to the child. Such a child requires massive care from the nurses of health institutions. The nurses also have a role of teaching the care principles to the parents or siblings of the affected child. My discussion will illustrate the disease process of glaucoma. I will then analyze the management measures directed by the nurses to aid in the recovery of the child, or to assist the chi ld lead a normal lifestyle. The disease process The optic nerve is responsible for transmission of visual images from the eye towards the brain. These contribute to perception of images by the brain. In glaucoma, components (axons) of this nerve are destroyed. They result in the death of the cells of the ganglions of the optic nerve. This in turn causes atrophy of the nerve. The result is that images are not transmitted to the brain for perception. This explains the vision loss in patches. There are many conditions causing the destruction of these neurons, however, the commonest cause is an increase in the contents of the eye. This is termed to as an increase in the intraocular pressures (IOP) of the eyes. Increased IOP may be due to obstruction of secretions of the eye or inhibition of flow. The major secretions of the eye are the aqueous humor and the vitreous humor. Physical injuries and congenital causes play a role in the obstruction of flow. The commonest congenital form of gl aucoma in children is referred to as Primary Infantile Glaucoma also referred to as congenital glaucoma. In this condition, there is hindrance to the passage of a secretion the eye referred to as aqueous humor of the infant or child. This raises the IOP with a possible damage of the optic nerve. This causes patchy blindness in the child or infant. Statistics reveal that the incidence of affecting one eye is 40% while in both of the eyes it is 60% (Merck Manual of Diagnosis, 2010). Primary infantile glaucoma may occur in infants following traumatic events or after surgery involving the ocular structures. Signs and symptoms The primary symptom in a child with infantile glaucoma is the swelling of the eye beyond its normal size. This is because of thee the IOP cause stretching of collagen fibers of the sclera of the eye. The infant or child affected experiences intolerance to bright light (photophobia) and tearing. The cornea of the eye becomes thin. It is normally about 12mm. The corn ea of the eye may also be cloudy. If the condition is not given urgent medical care, the cloudiness may progress, the optic nerve will be destroyed and patchy blindness occurs. Surgical intervention is the cardinal correction measure. Diagnosis: role of the nurse Early diagnosis of the condition is very important in children because some children have the condition without the parents

Africa and challenging development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Africa and challenging development - Essay Example The question on whether there is still a chance for Africa to be in the proper place in the competing world is still a question that is left unanswered. It can be remembered that the very cause of Africa's challenges and crisis as a whole and for several decades already is the colonialism of different empires due to space expansion and the quest for power. But because it has been a long time now and Africa still seemed to be in need of development, the better question to ask is that is it still valid to blame colonialism or neocolonialism for Africa's dependence to the colonialist.Before we can truly answer this, it is important to look at this neocolonialism or the small hands coming and going in and out of the country.It is true that the powerful empires have ceased literally in holding the people of Africa and there was a turn over of flags to the elite African leaders recently. But still, many people say that it was all just a turning over of flags, the powerful colonialists who play in the big world of capitalism are still at work through the elitist process of education. Education works in a way that Western oriented way of the colonialist inform and teach Africans to be more loyal to the Western way of living. This is the very simple yet powerful way of controlling the country which continuously causes Africa's dependence to other countries. (Abubakar 1989)The challenge of development can also be placed in the hands of the elite leaders of Africa who tend to control development and focus on projects that can benefit only their families and relatives. There is also another way of looking at Africa's position in the world. The people and the leaders for a long time have settled to the idea that they are already buried to the power of neocolonialism and because of this, lesser action is being done. People have already ceased to question if there is still a possibility to attain freedom in their own country. The hope as we can see still relies on the idea of becoming independent and relying on Africa's resources to be self-sustaining. (Abubakar, 1989) In the book Africa and the Challenge of Development, the writer quoted specific internal solutions to the problem and that's all coming from the preamble of African LPA. Africa's almost total reliance on the export of raw materials must change. . . . Africa must, therefore, map out its own strategy for development and must vigorously pursue its implementation. . . . Africa must cultivate the virtue of self- reliance [and] efforts toward African economic integration in order to create a continent-wide framework for the much needed economic co-operation for development based on collective self-reliance. . . . The primary responsibility of developing their economies remains with the African least developed countries themselves and the total political commitment of the Member States to the pursuit of these objectives is necessary . . . [and] social and economic reforms should be undertaken . . . to ensure full participation of the people in the development process. . . . [We] confirm our full adherence to the plan of Action, adopted at the Assembly of Heads of State and Government for implementing the Monrovia Strategy for the Economic, Social and Cultural Development of Africa and to adopting, among other measures, those relating to the setting up of regional structures and strengthening of those already existing for an eventual establishment of an African Economic Community. (Abubakar, 1989) At present though, self-sufficiency is becoming the goal of Africa and aside from the above suggested points, there is also a need to focus on external affairs more than just collective effort to attain the so-called self sufficiency. The external affairs that can be attained and is being talked about here is that Africa, more than just being affiliated in different international organizations where help form other countries are being sourced, African leaders who are in charge of coordinating with these