After two weeks in the hospital, Kate developed an infection that placed her in a coma on a respirator, which is “saving” her for the time being. Another part of this chapter that I found extremely interesting was the reaction of Anna when, after much argument about hockey camp, Sara said, “Anna, don’t make me do this” (269). Anna hotly responds, “Do what, Mom? I don’t make you do anything,” (269) hinting on how, throughout her
June, a 34-year-old divorced woman diagnosed with severe anorexia, is hospitalized. Her doctors feel she may need to be placed on a feeding tube soon to save her life. Initially June agreed to the feeding tube. However, in the evening (before the tube has been placed), she became combative, disoriented, and refused to have the feeding tube placed. Her mother and father insisted that the feeding tube be inserted despite her refusal to allow it.
Case Study (Mrs. B) Mrs. B is a 79-year-old retired schoolteacher who was in excellent health prior to suffering a stroke three days previously. Her physician has on file in her medical record a living will, which she wrote out some ten years before. At that time she had indicated that, should she ever suffer a stroke of any sort, she would not want to be saved. She had watched her mother live as an invalid for about four years in a nursing home after sustaining a stroke. Mrs. B wanted to be sure she would never be exposed to such an indignity nor constitute such a burden on others.
I did nursing assistant to take care of my disabled mother who passed away from cancer. It was a side job taking care of her while I worked in technology. Through this certification process, I learned a lot about outpatient care. I had the opportunity to work for Kindred hospital to gain the maximum experience to use for the care of my mother. After her death, I got more interested in pharmacy because the medication had prolonged her life and when the medication was cut on her because insurance did not cover her she passed away.
For one week prior to her hospital admission she reports being bed bound and “couldn’t even get up to use the restroom”. She stated that at first she was able to get out of bed and use a bucket placed beside the bed as a bedside commode; however, for at least two days before coming to the hospital she could not get up and was urinating in the bed. The primary admitting diagnosis was intractable back pain. Patient also presented with Ambulatory Dysfunction and a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). Patient stated that she has suffered from numerous health issues arising after age 12 and attributes them to an accident she had in which a horse “sat on her and rolled twice”.
My patient, Ms Carew was a 72 year old pensioner who lived with her daughter. She took two buses to get to the dental hospital each morning. She had her teeth extracted when she was in her 20s and used to have a new set of dentures made every second year until 1994. She had been wearing her dentures at night for as long as she had had them and because she didn’t have denture stomatitis, it was a bit difficult for me to explain the importance of leaving out her dentures at night. On extra-oral examination (muscle symptoms and joint sounds), there were no abnormalities detected except for a slight asymmetry in the lip region.
In February 2006, Emily Jerry, a two-year old child was at a Cleveland hospital to complete her last series of chemotherapy treatment. Her doctor ordered intravenous chemotherapy solution that was filled incorrectly by a pharmacy technician. The prescription called for 1% saline; however, a lethal amount of 23% saline was given instead, causing her to slip into a coma resulting in death. Eric Cropp, who was the supervising pharmacist signed off on the technician’s work despite her informing him that the mixture did not look right; nonetheless, he approved it. The pharmacy was so busy that day and short staffed, which led to a preventable fatal error that changed Eric’s whole life in a matter of seconds.
She went to her appointment with her primary care physician the following day. The physician examined her breast and discovered a lump on her breast, so he made a referral for her to see an oncologist in which can diagnose her if she has breast cancer. An oncologist is a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnoses and treatment cancer (The Denise Roberts Breast Cancer Foundation, 2009). The following are the three main types of oncologist: medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, and surgical oncologist, which can practice in hospitals and research centers. The female patient can make an appointment with the oncologist in which he will inform about her condition and different types of treatments available
American Nurses Association Code of Nursing Ethics The ANA Code of Nursing Ethics consists primarily of nine statements that help guide the actions and behaviors of a registered nurse (RN). In the case study of a 79-year-old female who becomes unresponsive, has no advanced directive. The attending physician has recommended surgery to remove the blood clot but cannot offer much assurance that she will recover neurological function. The family is split between the husband who wants to try anything to save her, and her children who believe she would not want to be kept alive in a miserable state. According to the ANA code of ethics, the RN’s primary commitment is to the patient and to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient.
Mrs A is one of the ladies I met on our first visit to the GP placement; she was an outspoken 40 year old lady who had come to see the doctor on that particular day as she was having pain when swallowing. Her records showed that she had been to the surgery to see our doctor’s colleague during the past week. Mrs A was also had asthma and diabetes. I wondered to myself before I met her why she would be back so soon as I assumed that she might not have finished the medication she had been given on the last visit. What surprised me most with Mrs A was her use of informal language that other people might find offensive and I particularly noted that the doctor answered appropriately as though there was nothing different about her use of language.