Going back to school after summer break can be a very difficult time for teens. Even though they’ve done this many times before, each new school year can bring new anxiety and other challenges for your teen. As their parent, you play a key role in supporting them through the transition to ensure they have the best year possible. Here are some helpful tips to consider as you plan for back-to-school season: (more…)
Being a teenager can be very challenging – for both the teen and the parent. Parenting your teenager might feel easy at times and extremely difficult at others. Though it may feel impossible, the way you raise your teen plays a key role in the way they live their life as an adult and the relationship they have with you. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you navigate parenting your teen. (more…)
According to the Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office, in 2020, 78 people went to Minnesota hospitals with fireworks injuries. That doesn’t come close to the actual number of people injured who didn’t seek care at a hospital. This doesn’t mean you have to avoid fireworks altogether this Fourth of July. As a Level I Adult, Pediatric, and Burn Center, Hennepin Healthcare offers these tips for celebrating safely with fireworks this summer. (more…)
A three-year-old patient was behind on her vaccine appointments, and a look at her chart showed other medical needs—a history of seizures and some missed appointments with her specialist. When Nurse Practitioner Katie Brown saw the toddler’s chart, she knew she had to find out what was happening—and she had to help.
Katie learned that it was nearly impossible for the child’s mother to show up for the appointments she was scheduling due to conflicts and caring for her other children– whether it was routine vaccines or other care. (more…)
Taking the bite out of choking, poisoning and system-traveling hazards
Babies and toddlers often explore their world using their mouths, where we’ve seen them place fingers, toes, dog food, toys, insects and other benign objects. Most of these aren’t cause for alarm but in addition to choking dangers small items can cause life-threatening problems if they are swallowed. Commonly ingested items that can cause medical emergencies include coins, button batteries, toys, toy parts, magnets, safety pins, screws, marbles, and bones. (more…)
Adolescence is an important time of development. Young people are developing physically, emotionally, and socially. Their brains are developing rapidly. While early childhood involves rapid brain growth, adolescent brain development is focused on a process called “pruning,” in which the existing neural pathways are refined and trimmed over time, especially in the main decision-making areas of the brain. This process goes on well into a person’s twenties. As a result, in adolescence, many neurons, including those in the reward pathways, are firing rapidly. This creates an environment for rapid socioemotional development, learning and sometimes behaviors that involve risk-taking and high rewards. The adolescent years is a period of opportunity and vulnerability for health and development. (more…)
Recently, the Federal Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control approved and recommended the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children 5-11 years, taking us one step closer to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Too many children have been infected with COVID-19 and serious cases can occur even in healthy children. Cases have increased dramatically since the arrival of the Delta variant. Nationally, over 1.9 million 5-11 year-olds have been infected and more than 8,300 hospitalized with COVID-19. Some children can also have long-term health effects, and COVID-19 is now a leading cause of death for this age group. (more…)
It’s that time of year when the leaves are falling, the kids are back in school, and they love it. Right? Well, this may not be your experience and you are not alone. It is common for children to not like school at certain times in their lives. You may have even heard the dreaded words, “I hate school!”
Now it’s your job to do some detective work and find out why. What is at the root of not liking school? (more…)
