Who conducted the support group meeting described in the case?

• A. A pediatric psychiatric nurse
• B. A social worker
• C. A pediatric surgeon
• D. A family physician

Answer: (A)

The key idea is who is best equipped to lead a group focused on helping families cope with the emotional and practical aspects of raising a child with a cleft lip and/or palate. A pediatric psychiatric nurse brings specialized training in child development, family dynamics, and mental health support, making them well suited to facilitate discussions, assess distress, teach coping strategies, and connect families with needed resources. This role blends medical care coordination with psychosocial support, which is exactly what a support group for caregivers and patients requires—normalizing experiences, sharing strategies for daily living, and addressing concerns about feeding, surgery timelines, speech therapy, and social integration.

While other professionals play critical parts in the overall care team, they aren’t as focused on leading ongoing peer support and emotional adjustment groups in this context. A social worker can also run such groups, but the scenario points to a pediatric psychiatric nurse as the facilitator because of the emphasis on emotional coping and family support within the medical setting. Surgeons concentrate on operative care, and a family physician, though capable of providing general guidance, is less likely to assume the role of leading a specialized support group in this particular situation.