Intellectual and developmental disabilities: Nurse advocacy
American Nurse
JUNE 30, 2025
In patients with IDD, constipation sometimes presents as maladaptive behaviors, such as self-injury or lashing out. Constipation also may be diagnosed during an assessment for pneumonia or other respiratory illness; the patient experiences shortness of breath as the stool pushes the diaphragm higher into the chest. Dehydration.
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