Mount Wachusett Community College
Seizure Collaborative Care Plan Project.
NUR 113: Pediatric Nursing (Evenings)
Due Date: Cycle 1= January 24
Cycle 2= March 14
All Students should complete the pharmacology section by January 24 in order to prep for Pharmacology Quiz 1
Part 1. Note source of references used for these definitions based on APA format. Do not plagiarize.

Define each & describe symptoms for the following different types of seizures.

Generalized Seizures: 1. Tonic-Clonic
Tonic-clonic seizures occur without warning, and are the most common and dramatic of all types. The tonic phase last about 20 seconds and the clonic phase lasts about 30 seconds. The symptoms for tonic phase are eyes rolling upward, immediate loss of consciousness, arms flexed, neck, head, legs extended, and increased salivation and loss of swallowing. The symptoms of a clonic phase may include jerking, foaming out of the mouth, and incontinence of urine and feces.

2. Absence Seizures
Absence seizures are more common in girls than boys, they usually happen between the ages of 4 and 12 years old, and has an abrupt onset that lasts for about 5-10 seconds. These types of seizures may be unrecognized because it may be mistaken for daydreaming. There is a brief loss of consciousness and they cause little to know alteration in muscle tone. The person may need to reorient themselves to previous activity.

3. Atonic or Akinetic
Atonic seizures usually appear between the ages of 2 and 5 years old. It is a sudden loss of muscle control causing the child to fall. It causes a brief loss of consciousness. These types of seizures occur frequently during the day mostly during the morning hours.

4. Myoclonic
Myoclonic seizures occur with a variety of seizure episodes. They may be benign essential myoclonus or they may occur in association with other seizure forms.

5. Infantile Spasms
These types of seizures usually occur during the first 6-8 months of life and they are twice as common in boys as in girls. Multiple seizures occur during the day without postictal drowsiness or sleep and the child has a poor change for normal intelligence. This causes a series of sudden, brief, symmetric, muscular contractions, eyes may roll upward or inward, sometimes there may be pallor, cyanosis or flushing. The child may loose consciousness.

Partial Seizures: 1. Simple partial seizures with sensory signs
This type of seizure is uncommon in children younger than 8 years old. They are characterized by visual sensations, numbness or tingling in one area of the body that spreads to other parts of the body and motor phenomena (posturing or hypertonia).

2. Simple partial seizures with motor signs
Simple partial seizures with motor signs have 3 different types of seizures which are characterized by localized motor symptoms, abnormal discharges remaining unilateral. Aversive which is the most common, is when the head or eyes turn away from the side of focus. Rolandic seizures which has tonic-clonic movements involving the face, salivation, and arrested speech. They are most common in sleep. The third type is Jacksonian march which is rare in children. This type of seizure is the sequential progression of clonic movements beginning in a foot, hand or face and “marching to adjacent body parts.

3. Complex partial seizures
Complex partial seizures usually are seen in children from 3 years through adolescence. They are characterized by a period of altered behavior, amnesia for the event, inability to respond to the environment, impaired consciousness, drowsiness after seizure, and an aura. The behavior for this type of seizure are stereotypic, and similar for each seizure, the child may suddenly stop activity and appear dazed, or stare into space. The child may be confused or perform purposeless activities in a repetitive manner.