Nursing care specifically related to strokes and stroke care - Essay Example

ischemic strokes and hemorrhagic strokes (Mink & Miller, 2011). Since both these kinds might have similar manifestations but have considerably different underlying etiology and require different management and interventions, it is of foremost importance to correctly recognize strokes as early as possible from the onset and to intervene in a timely fashion in order to minimize the possible ill-effects and deficits that can arise due to this disorder (Mink & Miller, 2011). This paper briefly discusses the different types of strokes, their clinical manifestations and available treatment modalities; throws light on the importance of stroke recognition and how fast acting care for strokes can highly affect patient outcomes; and focuses on the importance of knowledge regarding strokes for nurses, the role of nurses in care provision for stroke patients and the importance of being up to date and knowledgeable on stoke care for nurses.

Moreover, it also identifies some shortcomings in the existing literature for stroke care and the role of nurses and provides recommendations for future research in this arena. Stroke: Types, clinical presentation and available interventions As pointed out above, strokes can be broadly classified into two main kinds, viz. ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke (Trembly, 2010). . Hemorrhagic strokes can be further subdivided into two main types, viz. Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (aSAH) and Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH) (Trembly, 2010) based on their underlying etiology.

While ICH inflicts almost 70,000 individuals annually in the US, approximately 30,000 individuals suffer from an aSAH each year (Mink & Miller, 2011). Amongst all kinds of stroke, the type associated with the poorest outcomes is aneurysmal SAH, which is not only associated with high mortality rates but also have high complication rates due to re-bleeding and/or vasospasm occurring later on in the course of the disease, resulting in poorer patient outcomes (Trembly, 2010). The most important risk factors which are common for all type of strokes include smoking, hypertension and alcohol abuse, while some risk factors which are exclusive for ischemic strokes include diabetes, dyslipidemia, atrial fibrillation, hypercoagulable states and atherosclerosis, amongst others (Mink & Miller, 2011; Trembly, 2010).

Patients suffering from either an ischemic stroke or an ICH commonly present with a sudden onset of focal neurologic deficits which has a variable course, but often worsens as time progresses (Mink & Miller, 2011; Trembly, 2010). On the other hand, a typical presenting complaint of patients suffering from SAH is headache, which most patients describe as the worst headache of their lives, often associated with nausea, vomiting and nuchal rigidity (Mink & Miller, 2011). For all types of strokes, diagnosis is based predominantly on the recognition of patient symptoms and neuroimaging modalities such as CT scans which help in elucidating the underlying etiology (Mink & Miller, 2011;