15% Of ACLS, PALS, NRP, and BLS - Click Here

As a pediatric nurse, you will face situations on a day-to-day basis that require you to make use of your pediatric advanced life support (PALS) certification. Ohio health trends suggest that you will likely treat certain conditions more than others. Here are five health trends that pediatric nurses should know about.

1. External Injuries
External injuries accounted for nearly 23 percent of all child and adolescent deaths in Ohio, according to a 2010 annual report. Vehicular accidents accounted the most external-injury-related deaths among adolescents, and were the second most prevalent cause of death among children. Unintentional falls were the number one cause of non-fatal external injuries. 

2. Medical Causes
Medical causes accounted for approximately 72 percent of all children deaths in 2010. The top medical-related causes of death were:

• Prematurity (in infants)
• Congenital anomalies
• Infections (such as pneumonia)

3. Asphyxia
According to a 2010 annual report from the OH Department of Public Health, there has been a rise in cases of asphyxia in children (Asphyxia includes suffocation, strangulation and choking). 2010 marked the first year in which more children died of asphyxia than in vehicular accidents. 59 percent of deaths caused by asphyxia were children under the age of 1, and usually occurred in a sleep environment. 40 percent of deaths were children ages 10 to 17 years old.

4. SIDS and Sleep-Related Deaths
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is among the top killers for infants in Ohio. Data from the OH Department of Public Health showed that one in three infant deaths each week were sleep-related. If the non-SIDS sleep-related deaths were prevented, the Ohio infant mortality rate would have been reduced from 7.7 to 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births.

5. Asthma Attacks
Statistics from the Ohio Department of Public Health have shown that asthma cases are one of the more prevalent reasons for emergency room visits among adolescents. Asthma attacks fall second only to violence-related injuries.

Health Ed Solutions Provides PALS Certification: Ohio Healthcare Professionals 
Health Ed Solutions is the foremost provider of courses for Ohio PALS certification and PALS recertification online – Ohio healthcare employers typically require that pediatric healthcare professionals are PALS and ACLS certified. Learn more about PALS online recertification and ACLS certification (Texas and other states recognize this certification) at healthedsolutions.com.