Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/nursing/1431002-assessment
https://studentshare.org/nursing/1431002-assessment.
The method of prioritization has also been clarified in the beginning of the discussion part. The paper stresses the importance of sincere nursing practices and steady and prompt intervention coupled with preventive measures and advanced examinations. Discussion Method of Prioritization The diagnoses have been prioritized as per the emergency assessment of each. The fear of risk along with lack of mobility is most serious since there can be sudden accident due to the patient’s low confidence and body balance problems.
The diagnosis of bruising and skin tear can be indicative for more serious conditions like pressure ulcer. Polypharmacy is a relatively less severe condition since it can be gradually addressed. Bowel irregularities are the most chronic and common condition, so this problem is at the end of the priority list. Diagnosis 1 Mrs. Blackwell, aged in her 80, fell at home and subsequently underwent a right total hip anthroplasty. Now she has restricted mobility due to previous falls and recent surgery.
She expresses fear of falling again and she finds it hard to use the walking frame. All these facts prove that she has fear of fall along with restricted mobility. Goal: To help Mrs. Blackwell improve her Get Up and Go Test rating by 75% in the next 5 weeks. Also, Falls Risk for Older People in the Community rating for her should be bettered by 80% in this timeframe. Rationale: I will plan low intensity and low impact exercise schedule for Mrs. Blackwell to initiate effective nursing intervention in this case.
Exercises like Tai Chi (Harling and Simpson, 2008) can help her regain her body balance and confidence. This exercise also helps in minimizing depression. This sort of intervention has been widely supported by modern research. Instead of medication and psychiatric treatment it is wise to emphasize the importance of light physical exercise. Physical therapy approach can help in reducing fracture and fall risk among the older adults to a considerable extent (Karinkanta et al, 2010). Physical exercise and therapy should be such that they help in restoring body balance.
Restoration of body balance can be effectively achieved by the means of individual adaptive and specialized programmes. Group training is a significant initiative in this direction (Halvarsson et al, 2011). Therefore I will try to better Mrs. Blackwell’s social network and involve her in the community efforts for the elderly. Last but not least, I will examine her improvement and response to the intervention techniques by using Get Up and Go Test (Brown and Edwards, 2008) to assess the body balance and confidence levels.
The Falls Risk for Older People in the Community rating (Russell et al, 2009) is also important in this context. Diagnosis 2 Mrs. Blackwell has the problem of bruising and a skin tear on her left knee. This can be an indication for a serious underlying problem like pressure ulcer. At this stage, skin integrity risk is already evident. Goal: To help the patient to decrease her skin integrity risk. The aim is to reduce the risk by at least 60% as per the Skin Integrity Risk Assessment Tool in the next 5 weeks.
Rationale: I will categorize Mrs. Blackwell as a “frail elder” (White, Karam and Cowell, 1994, p. 95) as she is showing signs of skin integrity complications. Skin integrity can be adversely affected due to epithelial tissue breakage. In the case of an
...Download file to see next pages Read More