Nursing student and Corrigan Scholar Katherine Tenemaza-Rojas ’23 is on a mission to bring light to the mental health challenges faced by immigrant pediatric patients. For her senior capstone project, she presented a unique look into mental health challenges encountered by immigrant pediatric patients — children who, without early detection, are often at higher risk for developing long-lasting mental health and behavioral health issues. In her project, Tenemaza-Rojas discussed how comprehensive mental health screenings, cultural sensitivity, and complete health histories can help support high-quality care for immigrant patients and their families.

“Pediatric nurses should be more aware of the challenges faced by immigrant patients,” she said. “Nurses who better understand the social and legal implications of immigration allow for advocacy at the bedside.”

As an immigrant herself, Tenemaza-Rojas feels a personal connection to this topic and has witnessed the need for support within this vulnerable population during her clinical experiences at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital.

“I will never forget a mother that had a son with cerebral palsy, they both migrated within a month of that encounter, and she was unaware of the resources that were available to her and her child. In addition, the language barrier made it more challenging,” she said.

The challenges faced by immigrant pediatric patients are multifaceted, including pre-migration trauma, exposure to violence, acculturation difficulties, discrimination, and the stress of the immigration process itself. These challenges can have long-lasting mental health impacts on children, especially those who are unaccompanied by their parents.

To improve outcomes for immigrant pediatric patients, Tenemaza-Rojas emphasizes the critical role of mothers in accessing mental health services for their children and suggests that pediatric nurses should partner with and empower mothers, while also listening to their perspectives. Additionally, the research highlights the importance of a trauma-informed approach and the involvement of school nurses in supporting Latinx children and their families. Professional nursing organizations should provide ongoing education to nurses about the challenges faced by immigrant patients to enable advocacy and better patient assessment.

In addition to presenting her research at the Innovative Research Symposium, Tenemaza-Rojas’ work on mental health challenges in immigrant pediatric patients led to a national podium presentation and a poster presentation. She was also recently honored with the leadership award from the Sigma Theta Tau — Mu Chi Chapter.