As of 1999, despite multiple federal, state and foundation reports and books promoting over 1,000 recommendations and strategies aimed at improving the health of adolescents, no clear policy mandate exists. One new approach is to have all nurses gain a better understanding of adolescents and how to best work with them and their families to improve adolescent health. The purpose of this module is to give a general overview of adolescents, describe an assets framework for working with teens, identify the progress toward Healthy Youth 2000 objectives and describe the role of the nurse in delivering culturally competent and confidential care. The deadline for completion of this module is Dec. 31, 2001.

Objectives

1. Describe the physical changes that occur in puberty.
2. Discuss characteristics of the formal operations stage of cognitive development.
3. Name the central developmental tasks of adolescence.
4. List internal and external assets from the Search Institute framework.
5. Explain why it is important to know oneself in order to deliver culturally sensitive care.
6. Define confidentiality.
7. Describe the progress in meeting Healthy Youth 2000 objectives.