Compared to heterosexual youth, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning (GLBQ) adolescents engage disproportionately in a variety of health risk behaviors and are at risk for numerous negative health outcomes. Adolescents reporting same-sex sexual attraction, romantic relationships, and sexual experience are also at increased risk, regardless of self-identified sexual orientation. While adolescents feel it is important to discuss sexuality with primary care providers, they are unlikely to initiate discussion about sexuality or to openly disclose GLBQ sexual orientation to their providers. Primary care providers should identify GLBQ youth to increase delivery of targeted preventive health services to this at-risk population. However, providers do not routinely address sexual orientation in their clinical encounters with adolescents, and the majority of GLBQ youth are not identified in the primary care setting. To better serve the needs of this population, providers should initiate open, sensitive, nonjudgmental, and confidential discussion of sexuality with all adolescents. Providers should inquire about sexual orientation, sexual attraction, romantic relationships, and sexual partners.

Home care for technology-dependent children is one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. health care industry, but nursing literature lacks clear directions to guide home care nurses in planning a family-centered practice. The purpose of this study was to address this gap in the literature by eliciting descriptions of ideal home nursing care for technology-dependent children from the perspective of their parents. A qualitative, descriptive design with formal, semi-structured interviews was used. Seven participants (three couples and one mother) were interviewed. Data analysis revealed four components of ideal home nursing care: 1) competence in technical, assessment, clinical decision-making, and problem-solving skills; 2) a caring manner; 3) relinquishing control of the child's care to the parents; and 4) fitting in with the family and their routines. These findings have implications for both home care nurses and the care managers who supervise the care of children who are technology dependent and their families.

Negative outcomes are consistently reported when adolescent solid organ transplant recipients are transitioned to adult transplant programs. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to understand the perceptions of patients and their parents about self-care management at transition. Solid organ transplant recipients, 16 to 22 years of age (n = 10), in a 396-bed pediatric hospital in the northeastern United States and their parents (n = 10) completed semi-structured interviews regarding health, transplant history, and participants' thoughts and feelings related to transitioning to adult transplant centers. Qualitative data were analyzed using the phenomenological method with NVIVO software to identify themes across interviews. Themes included negative perceptions of adult transplant centers due to anxiety regarding the competencies of new providers in caring for the child's medical needs, unfamiliarity with adult medical providers, fear of letting go and assuming greater responsibility, and discrepancies between providers, parents, and patients. Clinical implications are discussed, including the creation of a pediatric transition clinic and strategies for providers to promote self-care management among patients.

The aims of this study were to describe significant patient education sessions, and to explore nurses' empowering and traditional behavior in the patient education process of children and their families. The qualitative critical incident technique was used by interviewing 45 nurses in pediatric units. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Each starting point for patient education, educational outcome, and professional aspects was the characteristic that made patient education sessions significant. Nurses using the empowering behavior conducted the education process with holistic and multi-method need assessment, adequate preparation and objectives, patient-oriented education, and interactive communication, as well as multi-method evaluation and promotion of patient participation. Traditional behavior was described as nurse-oriented or insufficient in every phase of the process. These findings indicate that more training for nurses and administrative measures are needed in hospitals to enhance the empowering education of children and their families.

Children are increasingly using cell phones. "Family package" deals make it easy for parents to obtain phones for their children, and the phones provide parents with the comfort of easy access to their children. However, cell phones emit radio frequency (RF) radiation (Bucher & the Committee on Appropriations, 2010). While the government has deemed RF radiation to be safe, there is no current significant research to make this claim. To determine the relationship between cell phone radiation and brain cancer requires long-term studies lasting decades and with inclusion of frequent users in the subject pool. Further, to extend the results of any study to children requires controlling for the differences between juveniles and adults regarding the composition of the head, and bone density and neural tissue. Dr. L. Hardell of the University Hospital of Sweden noted that "it is necessary to apply the precautionary principle in this situation," especially for long-term exposure that is likely to affect children (Hardell as cited in Mead, 2008, p. 1). There is cause for concern.