I. Definition
• Guillain-Barré syndrome is an autoimmune attack on the peripheral nerve myelin. The result is acute, rapid segmental demyelination of peripheral nerves and some cranial nerves producing ascending weakness. Read More »
I. Definition
• Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common, irreversible, degenerative neurologic dementia. Read More »
I. Definition
• Osteomyelitis is a pyogenic bone infection. Read More »
I. Definition
• Osteoarthritis is a slowly progressive, degenerative joint disease characterized by variable changes in weight-bearing joints. Read More »
I. Definition
• Traction is an orthopedic treatment that involves placing tension on a limb, bone or muscle group using various weight and pulley systems. Read More »
I. Definition
• Gouty arthritis is a metabolic disease marked by urate crystal deposits in the joints throughout the body, causing local irritation and inflammatory responses. Read More »
I. Definition
• A SPRAIN is a complete or incomplete tear in the supporting ligaments surrounding a joint. Common locations include the ankle, knee, wrist, thumb, shoulder, neck and lower back.
• A STRAIN is an overstretching injury to a muscle or tendon. Commonly affected areas are the groin, hamstring, calf, shoulder, and back muscles, and the Achilles tendons. Read More »
I. Definition
A fracture is a traumatic injury interrupting bone continuity. Read More »
I. Definition
• Casts are solid dressings applied to a limb or other body part. Read More »
I. Definition
• Osteoporosis is a disorder of bone metabolism in which there is a reduction of total bone mass, making bones abnormally prone to fracture. Read More »
Assessment
Surgery of the hand or wrist, unless related to major trauma, is generally an ambulatory surgery procedure. Before surgery, the nurse assesses the patient’s level and type of discomfort and limitations in function caused by the ganglion, carpal tunnel syndrome, Dupuytren’s contracture, or other condition of the hand. Read More »
Assessment
Surgery of the foot may be necessary because of various conditions, including neuromas and foot deformities (bunion, hammer toe, clawfoot). Generally, foot surgery is performed on an outpatient basis. Before surgery, the nurse assesses the patient’s ambulatory ability and balance and the neurovascular status of the foot. Additionally, the nurse considers the availability of assistance at home and the structural characteristics of the home in planning for care during the first few days after surgery. The nurse uses these data, in addition to knowledge of the usual medical management of the condition, to formulate appropriate nursing diagnoses. Read More »
Assessment
Assessment of the patient is focused on hydration status, current medication history, and possible infection. Adequate hydration is an important goal for orthopedic patients. Immobilization and bed rest contribute to DVT, to urinary stasis and associated bladder infections, and to kidney stone formation. Adequate hydration decreases blood viscosity and venous stasis and ensures adequate urine flow. To determine preoperative hydration status, the nurse assesses the skin and mucous membranes, vital signs, urinary output, and laboratory values.
Read More »
Assessment
When obtaining the history, the nurse asks about the patient’s presenting signs and symptoms. Does the patient have heartburn, indigestion, nausea, or vomiting? Do the symptoms occur at any specific time of the day, before or after meals, after ingesting spicy or irritating foods, or after the ingestion of certain drugs or alcohol? Has there been recent weight gain or loss? Are the symptoms related to anxiety, stress, allergies, Read More »
Assessment
A careful nursing history and assessment of symptoms are important. The extent and type of pain are carefully assessed, as are the appearance and temperature of the skin of both legs. The quality of all peripheral pulses is Read More »
Assessment
The health history and physical examination provide important data about the type of anemia involved, the extent and type of symptoms it produces, and the impact of those symptoms on the patient’s life. Weakness, fatigue, and general malaise are common, as are pallor of the skin and mucous membranes Read More »
Assessment
The nurse takes a health history to identify the onset, duration, and characteristics of abdominal pain; the presence of diarrhea or fecal urgency, straining at stool (tenesmus), nausea, anorexia, or weight loss; and family history of IBD. It is important to discuss dietary patterns, including the amounts of alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine containing products used daily and weekly. The nurse asks about patterns of bowel elimination, including character, frequency, and Read More »
As a profession, nursing is accountable to society. This accountability is spelled out in the American Hospital Association’s Patient Care Partnership, which reflects social beliefs about health and health care. In addition to Read More »
Culturally Mediated Characteristics
Nurses should be aware that patients act and behave in a variety of ways, in part because of the influence of culture on behaviors and attitudes. However, although certain attributes and attitudes are frequently associated with particular cultural groups, as described in the following pages, it is important to remember that not all people from the same cultural Read More »
Physical or Emotional Disability: Teaching Strategy
Adapt information to accommodate the person’s cognitive,
perceptual, and behavior disabilities.
Give clear written and oral information.
Highlight significant information for easy reference.
Avoid medical terminology. Read More »
Health promotion is a concept and a process that extends throughout the life span. Studies have shown that the health of a child can be affected either positively or negatively by the health practices of the mother during the prenatal period. Therefore, health promotion starts before birth and extends through childhood, adulthood, and old age. Read More »
Certain principles underlie the concept of health promotion as an active process: self-responsibility, nutritional awareness, stress reduction and management, and physical fitness. Read More »
Dilemmas that center on death and dying are prevalent in medical surgical nursing practice and frequently initiate moral discussion. The dilemmas are compounded by the fact that the idea of curing is paramount in health care. With advanced technology, it may be difficult to accept the fact that nothing more can be done, or that technology may prolong life but at the expense of comfort and quality of life. Focusing on the caring as well as the curing role may assist nurses in dealing with these difficult moral situations. Read More »
Ethical Nursing Care
In the complex modern world, we are surrounded by ethical issues in all facets of our lives. Consequently, there has been a heightened interest in the field of ethics, in an attempt to gain a better understanding of how these issues influence us. Specifically, in health care the focus on ethics has Read More »
In today’s health care arena, the nurse is faced with increasingly complex issues and situations resulting from advanced technology, greater acuity of patients in hospital and community settings,
an aging population, and complex disease processes, as well as ethical and cultural factors. Traditionally, nurses have used a problem-solving approach in planning and providing nursing care. Today the decision-making part of problem solving has become increasingly complex and requires critical thinking. Read More »
Interventions for alterations in health and wellness vary among cultures. Interventions most commonly used in the United States have been labeled as conventional medicine by the National
Institutes of Health (n.d.). Other names for conventional medicine were allopathy, Western medicine, regular medicine, mainstream medicine, and biomedicine. Interest in interventions that are not an integral part of conventional medicine prompted the National Institutes of Health to create the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) in 1992, and then to establish the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in 1999. Read More »
Three major views, or paradigms, attempt to explain the causes of disease and illness: the biomedical or scientific view, the naturalistic or holistic perspective, and the magico-religious view. Read More »
Assessment
1. Assess the person’s readiness for health education.
a. What are the person’s health beliefs and behaviors?
b. What physical and psychosocial adaptations does the person need to make? Read More »
I know many of you who want to register for NCLEX exam need to know this. Read More »
1. The CORE
Represents the people that make up the community included in the community CORE are the demographic of the population as well as the values, beliefs and history of the people. Read More »
