Prescribing For Children And Adolescent
Assignment 5
Prescribing For Children And Adolescent Assignment 5
Psychotropic drugs are commonly used for children and
adolescents to treat mental health disorders, yet many of these
drugs are not FDA approved for use in these populations. Thus,
their use is considered “off-label,” and it is often up to the best
judgment of the prescribing clinician. As a PMHNP, you will need
to apply the best available information and research on
pharmacological treatments for children in order to safely and
effectively treat child and adolescent patients. Sometimes this will
come in the form of formal studies and approvals for drugs in
children. Other times you may need to extrapolate from research
or treatment guidelines on drugs in adults. Each individual patient
case will need to be considered independently and each
treatment considered from a risk assessment standpoint. What
psychotherapeutic approach might be indicated as an initial
treatment? What are the potential side effects of a particular
drug?
For this Assignment, you consider these questions and others as
you explore FDA-approved (“on label”) pharmacological
treatments, non-FDA-approved (“off-label”) pharmacological
treatments, and nonpharmacological treatments for disorders in
children and adolescents