The caregivers of a child just diagnosed with diabetes express concern that they won’t remember the different signs and symptoms of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. As a result, they are afraid they won’t handle an emergency correctly. What is the best initial response by the nurse to help ensure the child’s safety?

Choice A reason: Infancy is marked by rapid physical and skill development, with milestones like crawling and babbling occurring quickly. This aligns with pediatric developmental assessments, making it the correct characteristic for the nurse to monitor, ensuring infants meet critical growth benchmarks during routine evaluations.

Choice B reason: Insisting on independence with dependence reversion is typical of toddlers, not infants, who lack such autonomy. Rapid skill growth defines infancy, making this incorrect, as it describes a later developmental stage rather than the nurse’s focus for infant growth and development assessments.

Choice C reason: Rapid information intake and questioning “why” and “how” characterize preschoolers, not infants, who lack verbal curiosity. Rapid skill development is the infant focus, making this incorrect, as it applies to older children rather than the nurse’s assessment of infant developmental characteristics.

Choice D reason: Increased attention span is seen in older children, not infants, who have short attention spans. Rapid growth and skill acquisition define infancy, making this incorrect, as it does not reflect the developmental characteristics the nurse should assess in infants during pediatric evaluations.

Choice A reason: Saying the flowers aren’t alive and removing them avoids the child’s question, missing a chance to discuss death. Asking about dying opens dialogue, making this evasive and incorrect compared to the nurse’s opportunity to engage the dying child in a meaningful conversation.

Choice B reason: Acknowledging the flowers’ death and asking what dying is like invites the child to share thoughts, facilitating discussion about their own mortality. This aligns with pediatric palliative care communication, making it the most appropriate response to encourage the child to open up about dying.

Choice C reason: Calling the flowers uncheerful and removing them dismisses the child’s observation, closing off discussion about death. Asking about dying fosters dialogue, making this superficial and incorrect compared to the nurse’s role in supporting the dying child’s emotional expression and exploration.

Choice D reason: Offering to trash the flowers ignores the child’s reference to death, missing a chance to explore their thoughts. Asking about dying encourages openness, making this abrupt and incorrect compared to the nurse’s opportunity to facilitate a conversation about death with the child.