Can the Nurse Educator influence the Therapeutic Result in Atopic Dermatitis in Children?
Abstract
Βackground: Atopic dermatitis is a chronic skin disease of childhood. Non-adherence to medical treatment is correlated with inadequacy of the information parents receive from health professionals, parental corticophobia and a poor prognosis. A key point for enhancing the effectiveness of the treatment is the provision of organized and evidence-based education by a specialist nurse. Aim: To illustrate the contribution of educational intervention provided by a specialist nurse to children with atopic dermatitis and their parents. Method: A systematic review was made of published articles through PubMed database for the period 2000 to 2010, using the key words “quality of life of children with atopic eczema”, “nurse education for atopic dermatitis”, “compliance for atopic eczema”, “nurse educational intervention to atopic eczema”, “nurse specialist for atopic dermatitis”. The inclusion criteria for this review were: (a) Papers published in the English language, (b) date of publication between 2000 and 2010, (c) papers referring to children with atopic dermatitis and their parents, (d) articles referring to organized nurse educational intervention and its results. Through a search of articles published in English referring to atopic dermatitis (730), 69 results were found relevant to the study aims, of which 12 qualified for further analysis. Results: Educational intervention by a nurse practitioner significantly decreases the severity of the disease and improves the quality of life of both the children and their parents. In addition the degree of satisfaction of the patients is positively associated with awareness brought by a nurse specialist based on a patient-centered approach according to the age of the children, with the severity of the disease, and with the time given for conducting counseling meetings. Conclusions: The degree to which atopic dermatitis affects children depends on their compliance with treatment, regular monitoring and continuous guidance by a nurse educator.
