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Internationally Adopted Children: Healthcare Needs and APN Responses

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Natalie L. Murphy, BSN, RN
College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL

Learning Objective 1: identify common healthcare challenges facing newly internationally adopted children.

Learning Objective 2: recall which screening tests should be included in the initial physical evaluation of internationally adopted children.

Internationally adopted children come from dire conditions of social and economic adversity. As a result, many of the children suffer neglect and deprivation, which may result in long-term health consequences. Although the requirement for obtaining a resident visa for the United States does include a medical examination, this is simply a cursory assessment. This limited screening is designed to protect the public from a few specific conditions and does not determine if the children are completely healthy. Consequently, many of the adopted children arrive to their new home with acute and chronic infectious diseases as well as other significant medical problems and developmental delays.

Since medical needs and risks of international adoptees can be extensive, nurses need to be familiar with these challenges and screen the adopted children appropriately. To provide quality care, advanced practice nurses caring for internationally adopted children need to be familiar with best practice recommendations suggested by experts in the emerging field of international adoption medicine. With proper screening, these children can safely begin to grow and excel, supported by the love and care of their new families. Additionally, with proper screening, their adopted families and the public can be protected from contracting infectious diseases. Despite an underprivileged beginning, internationally adopted children are resilient. Although developmental delays are prevalent in this population, these children rapidly catch up to their non-adopted peers. Advanced practice nurses can be instrumental in supporting this success.

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