The classic picture is a child 6 months to 5 years old who develops a sudden, generalized tonic‑clonic movement lasting seconds to minutes, accompanied by a temperature ≥38 °C (100.4 °F). The key discriminators are: | Feature | Simple febrile seizure | Complex febrile seizure | |---------|------------------------|--------------------------| | Duration | < 15 min | ≥ 15 min | | Distribution | Generalized | Focal or asymmetric | | Recurrence | One episode/24 h | ≥ 2 episodes/24 h | A seizure that meets any complex criterion carries a modestly higher risk of later epilepsy (≈2‑5 % vs 1 % for simple). Recognising the pattern quickly steers the nurse toward appropriate monitoring and the need for additional investigations. Clinical trajectory check Link new findings to the underlying process and the compensatory response that is succeeding or failing. Reassess objective trends such as perfusion, oxygenation, mental status, pain pattern, labs, and response to time-limited interventions so the next action reflects improvement or deterioration rather than a memorized label. For NCLEX-RN (Canada), items rarely announce the topic in the first sentence. Anchor to...