| Course | PA 618 Clinical Clerkship - Pediatrics |
|---|---|
| Week | 3 |
| Paper type | Assent documentation |
| Length | About 500 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 618 Week 3
Assent Documentation Brief for M.J.'s Peripheral IV: The Decision in an Eight-Year-Old's Words, What the Parent Heard Instead, Each Answer Recorded as It Came and What Happened When the Child Said No
Student Name
Chamberlain University
PA 618: Clinical Clerkship - Pediatrics
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Assent Documentation Brief for M.J.'s Peripheral IV: The Decision in an Eight-Year-Old's Words, What the Parent Heard Instead, Each Answer Recorded as It Came and What Happened When the Child Said No
The Decision in the Child's Words
What M.J. was told: "We need to put a tiny soft straw in your arm so the medicine can go straight into your blood and fight the germ in your eyelid. It pinches for a few seconds. Then it stays in, and you won't feel it much. You can hold Grandma's hand and choose which arm."
What the Adult Heard Instead
What the parent was told: peripheral intravenous catheter for intravenous clindamycin every 8 hours, likely for 48 to 72 hours, then a switch to oral antibiotics if the swelling improves; risks include bruising and the catheter coming out; numbing cream will be used.
The parent asked whether M.J. would need to be held down. The answer given was that holding would not be used for this catheter; if M.J. could not agree after time and choices, the team would pause and discuss other routes with the parent.
Recorded as It Came
M.J.'s first answer, 14:10: "No. I don't want a needle." The parent's answer, 14:12: consent given.
M.J. asked: "Can I take medicine by mouth instead?" Answer given: "That might work later, but right now the swelling is getting worse, and medicine through the straw works faster."
M.J., 14:20, after numbing cream and a choice of arm: "Okay, the left one. But Grandma holds my hand." Recorded as assent.
Between 14:12 and 14:20, the nurse applied numbing cream to both forearms and the grandparent sat on the bed. The student explained again, slowly, what the "straw" was and showed M.J. a catheter in its packet. M.J. touched it and asked whether it would stay in "forever"; the answer given was "until the eye is better, two or three days."
When the Answers Differ
For eight minutes, the parent consented and the child did not assent. The procedure was not done during that time. The American Academy of Pediatrics describes assent as the child's agreement after age-appropriate explanation, distinct from the parent's legal permission, and urges clinicians to seek it and take a child's dissent seriously even when it cannot always be decisive (Katz et al., 2016). Here, waiting eight minutes and offering choices was enough.
Two Times on One Page
Consent: parent, 14:12. Assent: M.J., 14:20. Catheter placed: 14:35, left forearm, first attempt.
What Was Not Offered
M.J. was not offered the choice of no catheter at all, because the intravenous route was medically necessary that day. The brief records this rather than implying a choice that did not exist.
References
Katz, A. L., Webb, S. A., Macauley, R. C., Mercurio, M. R., Moon, M. R., Okun, A. L., Opel, D. J., & Statter, M. B. (2016). Informed consent in decision-making in pediatric practice. Pediatrics, 138(2), Article e20161485. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-1485
PA 618 Week 3 instructions, in plain terms
The third week asks for a short assent documentation brief whose structure is visible at a glance. Open with the decision in the words used to explain it to the child, not the words in the chart. Then give what the adult heard instead, in clinical terms. Record each answer as it came, with times, including any refusal and any questions the child asked. Say what happened when the child's answer and the parent's answer differed. Put consent and assent at two separate times on the page. If the child is too young to give assent, say so and record what was explained anyway. Do not write that a child agreed if the encounter does not show it. Say what was not offered, if the choice was limited. Cite guidance on assent.
How the PA 618 Week 3 example is put together
The brief opens with the explanation given to M.J.: a soft straw for medicine, a pinch, holding Grandma's hand and choosing an arm. The adult version gives an intravenous catheter for clindamycin every 8 hours for about 48 to 72 hours, the risks and numbing cream. Answers are recorded as they came: M.J.'s "No" at 14:10, the parent's consent at 14:12, M.J.'s question about medicine by mouth and the answer given, and assent at 14:20 with the left arm and a hand to hold. A section on differing answers notes eight minutes with no procedure and cites Katz et al. (2016). Times are listed separately for consent, assent and placement at 14:35. A final section states that declining the catheter altogether was not offered, because it was medically necessary.
Where the points sit in the PA 618 Week 3 rubric
Assent briefs lose the most when the child's agreement is assumed from the parent's consent, or recorded with no wording and no time. Next comes an explanation recorded only in clinical language, which shows nothing about what the child understood. Graders deduct for leaving out a refusal or the wait that followed. Faculty reward the child's version first, the adult's version second and each answer recorded with its time. Separate times for consent and assent earn a defined share. Honesty about what choices were really offered is graded as integrity. Citation of guidance on pediatric assent, in APA form, completes the rubric.
PA 618 Week 3 help from the desk
Assent documentation most often falls short with a single line such as "child agreed," with no explanation recorded. Another frequent problem is erasing an initial refusal because the procedure went ahead. Some briefs also imply the child could decline something that was medically necessary. If your case involves a different procedure, an older child or an infant too young to assent, send what was said to the child and when; a brief written for you would record the child's version and the adult's, each answer with its time, what happened when they differed, separate consent and assent times and what was not offered. If your section uses a form with boxes, the same content would fill them.
Get a PA-618 Week 3 example written to your instructions
Hand over the assignment text, the age of the child in your case and the form if your section supplies one, and a custom brief is written to it and returned inside 24-48h, with the first one free. If the assignment involves a refusal, say so, because that changes the shape of the whole document.
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PA 618 Week 3 questions, answered
The child in my case is too young to give assent.
Then the brief records that, and records what the child was told anyway, which is the part most drafts drop. An explanation given to somebody who cannot agree still happened and still belongs in the document, and permission from the adult then carries the decision on its own. Sections that set this case are usually marking whether you noticed the difference.
My section supplies a form with boxes. Is there anything to write?
The boxes are the smallest part of the mark. What the rows read is the narrative around them: the wording used with the child, the question that came back, and what was done about a disagreement. A form filled correctly with no account of the conversation behind it is the commonest version handed in, and it sits near the bottom of most rubrics.
Can I write that the child agreed if my case does not say?
No, and that is the one line in the week where invention is a defect rather than a convenience. An agreement is an event, and a document asserting one that nobody described is a fabricated encounter. Where the case stops short, the honest version says what was asked and leaves the answer open, or the example starts from a child who never existed.
Where can I find a free PA 618 Week 3 sample paper?
This page carries the complete PA 618 Week 3 assent documentation brief for an IV in an eight-year-old, with refusal and assent recorded by time.
Was the IV placed while the child refused in the PA 618 Week 3 sample?
No. For eight minutes the parent had consented and the child had not assented, and nothing was done until the child agreed at 14:20.