An introduction to nursing children and young people with epilepsy

Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain and is defined as a tendency to have unprovoked seizures (Kwan and Brody, 2010; Epilepsy Action, 2019). It is possible for an individual to have an isolated seizure without having epilepsy. A diagnosis of the condition will usually be made only if someone has had more than one seizure and the medical team considers that the person will have more (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 2018). Epilepsy can start at any age and varies from a condition that lasts a set period to one that can be lifelong (Kwan and Brody, 2010).

It is one of the most common neurological conditions (Meeraus et al, 2013) (Box 1), commonly diagnosed in childhood (Kwan and Brody, 2010), which affects around 50 million people worldwide. In some cases, the cause for the condition will remain unknown; however, there are some known reasons: stroke, head injury, infection such as encephalitis, or problems during birth (Shorvon, 2011; NICE, 2018). There remains discussion regarding the possibility of epilepsy being hereditary (Shorvon, 2011).