Experience of Teenagers Born With Cleft Lip and/or Palate and Interventions of the Health Nurse

The objective of this study was to describe and understand the experiences of teenagers with cleft lip and/or palate. The human ecology approach of Bronfenbrenner (1979) was chosen as a basis for this study. From this perspective, the living environment of teenagers with cleft lip and/or palate was considered, and as such, qualitative research from an ethnographic standpoint was conducted. The data were collected by semistructured interviews and recorded on magnetic tape. Ten teenagers, between 15 and 17 years of age, were chosen and consulted while undergoing therapeutic treatment and surgery in a cleft lip and/or palate clinic. The results of this study indicate that teenagers born with this congenital malformation experience various physical, functional, or interactional problems throughout their development. To improve this situation, nursing care has been developed to enable the nurse to act within the multidisciplinary team treating cleft lip and/or palate cases, thereby allowing the teenager to develop in an environment that offers a better quality of life.