Sinéad Moloney and Maura Dowling outline how to treat this hormonal disorder and suggest ways to improve parental and carer education
The endocrine disorder adrenal insufficiency includes inadequate production of the steroid hormone cortisol. This results in poor physiological responses to illness, trauma or other stressors and risk of adrenal crisis. Management is based on administration of hydrocortisone. It is important to avoid under- or over-treatment and increase the dosage during times of physiological stress. To reduce morbidity, hospital admissions and mortality, the education and empowerment of parents and carers, and prompt intervention when necessary are essential. A steroid therapy card for adrenal insufficiency containing personal information on a patient’s condition was developed for use by families and their specialist centres.
Nursing Children and Young People. 24, 7, 25-28. doi: 10.7748/ncyp2012.09.24.7.25.c9275
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to open peer review
Conflict of interestThe authors received an educational grant from Merck Serono, which also sponsored the printing costs of the steroid therapy card
Accepted: 10 March 2011
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