Nursing care for children on the autism spectrum

Abstract

Introduction: Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition in which the bearer can present a wide range of behavioral signs, varying according to the degree of impairment in social behavior, communication and language. The first signs of this condition usually appear during the first five years of life. Although some people with ASD are able to live independently, others already need a series of care, support and psychosocial interventions throughout their lives. Objective: To survey the performance of nurses in the face of different procedures in autistic children in health units. Identify the main causes of crises and difficulties in nursing care for autistic children. Raise nursing intervention solutions and strategies to avoid crises in autistic children. Methodology: This is an integrative literature review carried out by crossing the descriptors: Autistic Spectrum Disorder; Pediatrics; Nursing. The databases were: LILACS, BIREME, Web of Science and the SciELO electronic library, with the search for articles carried out between August and November 2021. The search resulted in 28 articles, of which 12 were excluded, making a final total of 16 articles. Results and discussion: Among the main characteristics of the nurse's performance, the exact description of the procedure to be performed on the patient stands out, as well as the complete explanation of all the steps of the procedure, aiming to avoid crises due to the child's surprise during the procedure. of the procedure. Among the main crises in autistic children, the following were raised as the main causes: pain, noise, surprise and the melt-down, the name given to a multisensory crisis, caused by several stimuli directed at these children at the same time. As the main solution to avoid crises, the use of Social Stories was found, which are animated conventions in book or video format, whose objective is to explain in detail to the child what sensations he will have during the performance of a certain procedure and the step by step of the process. itself, avoiding surprises during its realization. Conclusion: Through this review, it was possible to conclude that Social Stories are the main key to carrying out nursing procedures in autistic children, reducing crises and facilitating nursing care, in addition to avoiding future problems, such as refusal of assistance or the so-called “White Coat Syndrome”, whose cause is linked to trauma in childhood. The importance of training and expertise of nurses in this area is highlighted, as diagnoses of autism increase day by day.