A nurse is providing education to the caregiver of a school-age child regarding immunizations to prevent respiratory infections. Which of the following information should the nurse include in the teaching?

A. "A provider will explain the changes you may see in your child's body after they have died.": Nurses are often the primary professionals who prepare families for expected postmortem changes such as skin cooling, color changes, and cessation of breathing. Limiting this role to a provider is inaccurate and may delay timely, compassionate education.

B. "Several members of the team will assist you after your child dies.": After a child’s death, an interprofessional team—including nurses, providers, chaplains, social workers, and bereavement specialists—supports the family. This assistance includes emotional support, guidance through next steps, and honoring cultural or spiritual practices. Preparing families for this support helps reduce anxiety and feelings of isolation.

C. "A nurse must obtain locks of hair from the deceased child.": Creating keepsakes such as locks of hair is optional and should be guided by family preference and cultural considerations. It is never mandatory and should only be offered sensitively. Presenting this as a requirement may be distressing to families.

D. "Warming blankets can minimize the body changes in deceased children.": After death, physiologic changes such as cooling and mottling are expected and cannot be prevented with warming measures. Applying warming blankets may create false expectations or confusion. Comfort measures are directed toward the family rather than altering postmortem changes.

A. Spinal nerve fibers exposed in a lesion: Exposed spinal nerve tissue is characteristic of neural tube defects such as myelomeningocele, not spinal muscular atrophy. SMA is a genetic neuromuscular disorder affecting motor neurons without structural spinal lesions.

B. The patient has ineffective airway clearance related to weak respiratory muscles: Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type I (Werdnig–Hoffmann disease) causes profound hypotonia and progressive weakness, including the intercostal and bulbar muscles. Respiratory muscle weakness leads to poor cough effort and ineffective airway clearance, making this a hallmark clinical concern.

C. Frequent seizures, impacting daily function: Seizures are not a typical manifestation of SMA Type I, as the disorder primarily affects lower motor neurons and does not directly involve cortical brain function.

D. The patient is immunocompromised: Immunodeficiency is not a defining feature of SMA. While recurrent infections may occur secondary to poor airway clearance, the immune system itself is not intrinsically impaired.