Case Study Analysis: Jenny Peterson

This case study analysis discusses the prioritization of care and clinical reasoning cycle for Jenny Peterson, a single mother diagnosed with epilepsy. The analysis focuses on developing nursing priorities for managing her seizure condition and mitigating the side effects of her medication. The goal is to provide effective and holistic care for Jenny's physical and mental health.

Running head: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS: JENNY PETERSON
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Introduction (priority of care and clinical reasoning cycle)
While working with patients who are critically ill and required intensive care, it is
important that nursing professionals develop plan of care so that effective and accurate care
could be provided to the patients (Crowe et al., 2015). Further, in this aspect, prioritization of
care for such critically ill patients becomes an important aspect so that through the application of
prioritized care, all the healthcare (physical and mental health) needs of the patients could be
addressed (Boivin et al., 2014). Community nursing professionals are thereby trusted by the
patients and their families because they are able to develop a prioritized care and apply them in
multiple dimensions for the patient such as their mental, emotional and social health (Crowe et
al., 2015). Clinical reasoning cycle by Levett- Jones is the process using which prioritization of
care could be achieved as through the eight stages of this cycle healthcare professionals are
able to create healthcare priority goals for patients suffering from critical situation (Levett-Jones,
2017).
In this paper, the case study of Jenny Peterson would be discussed and for her health
condition two nursing priorities would be developed so that discussing about her two care
priorities such as management of her seizure condition and developing SMART action goals so
that her epileptic doses associated side effects could be mitigated.
In the first phase of clinical reasoning cycle, patient’s situation would be considered.
Jenny Peterson (23) is a single mother who lives with her daughter Samara and was diagnosed
with epilepsy from last 6 months. Due to an intensive head injury after a car accident, and after
three months of accident, she started developing seizures and started consuming medication for
the same. Due to the occurrence of her epileptic symptoms, she was stigmatized and it affected
her employment and financial conditions. As per Kim et al. (2015), patients with affected mental
and physical health are generally affected with social stigma and develop consciousness
because of their fear of facing the society with such symptoms. Therefore, while suffering from
such situation, patients should be provided with empowerment so that their hope and
confidence could be reinforced and they could overcome their illness. Further, the secondary
concerns of the patient were her gastrointestinal disturbance, vomiting, diarrhea and cold or flu
due to which her restlessness increased (Richards et al., 2016). Therefore, it would be an
important priority for patient so that she could develop physical activity through occupational
healthcare service and take care of her daughter without any severe health complication.

2CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
The second step of Levett- Jones clinical reasoning cycle is associated to the collection
of patient’s healthcare related cues through patient observation, assessment and screening so
that in the next step these cues could be connected to develop nursing priority goals for
patient’s effective care. It was seen in Jenny’s case that her epilepsy condition relapse every
week and hence, it is important to understand the cues related to her epilepsy. In this situation,
nursing professionals with the help of psychiatrists and neurological professionals the reason of
her relapsed epilepsy would be determined. As per Kim et al. (2015), in such epileptic
conditions it is important to conduct neuro- imaging processes such MRI or Magnetic Resource
Imaging, CT- SCAN, electroencephalogram or EEG so that through the assessment of the
neurological aspects, the patient condition could be determined. Further, for her nausea,
vomiting and diarrhea associated condition, her diet, nutritional content and her medication
doses, with allergic condition would be assessed so that through this information, the reason of
her secondary health conditions could be identified. Further, as per Herman et al. (2015), if any
patient undergo any severe head injury the chances of continuous seizures and epileptic
condition is higher than other injuries. Hence, these cues would be processed in the next step of
the healthcare clinical reasoning cycle so that the goal for Jenny Peterson could be developed.
Processing the collected information is the next step of clinical reasoning cycle which
would be used in this clinical reasoning cycle so that through assessment and processing of the
cues, the care process for Jenny Peterson could be developed. Due to her accident, her
concern of her daughter’s future, she was depressed and stressed and hence, these affected
her health and well- being, as per Verrotti et al. (2014), which could be a reason for her epileptic
condition. Further she was a single mother and was living alone with her daughter and hence,
her mental health, social stigma and isolation were one of the primary reasons for her affected
mental health condition and multiple episodes of epilepsy (Kim et al., 2015). On the other hand,
it was seen through her case study and her medication health condition that she used to
consume lamotrigine and valproate are associated to the side- effects such as diarrhea, nausea
and vomiting and hence, it could be another reason for her secondary health complications
observed in this case study. Therefore, while conducting healthcare interventions for her health
conditions, she should be provided with alternative care processes to improve her future health
conditions (Finsterer & Bersano, 2015).
Identification of health problem of the patient is the next step of clinical reasoning cycle
and in this step all the patient information, collected cues and incidences would be connected to
each other so that SMART goal of patient health improvement could be obtained. As per Belz et

3CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
al. (2017), it is evident in patients suffering from accidental history that they suffer from
depression and stress due to which, the episodes of epileptic condition arises. She was living
alone and was a single mother which was a concern for her daughter’s future and hence, her
stress and anxiety was not just associated to her health, but also to her daughter’s health
condition. Hence, her mental health condition was the primary issue in her health condition that
was associated to her epileptic relapses. The second issue identified form her health condition
would be her gastrointestinal issues due to her medication side effects as mentioned by Kurian
et al. (2016) and hence, the application of the drug induced her secondary health condition.
Therefore, these aspects of her health condition would be addressed in her healthcare goals
and SMART action plans so that within a specific time period, the improved health outcomes for
the patient could be achieved.
Establishment of goals depending on the identified health concerns is the next step of
clinical reasoning cycle. These goals would be developed on the priority for Jenny and her
health condition as it is the primary goal of effective healthcare process (Koivisto et al., 2016).
The first goal for her healthcare treatment would be decreasing her relapse of seizures and
implement alternative treatment therapy with stress reduction intervention for 5 weeks so that
with medication, alternative treatment could be used for her better health outcome (Richards et
al., 2016). The second goal for Jenny would be informing about the local and state government
driven stipend services so that she could easily bear her medical financed and educate her
daughter at the same time. Further, providing such information to patient would help her to
balance her financial condition and she would be able to overcome her stress nd depression
related to economic aspect of her life. In this aspect the nursing professinals would provide her
details about council of single mothers and children. (Finsterer & Bersano, 2015).
The next step in clinical reasoning cycle would be developing action plan about the
healthcare process so that the developed smart goals would be achieved within specific time
period (Koivisto et al., 2016). To address the first SMART goal developed for Jenny and her
distressed mental health, epileptic relapses and inability to think for her employment and family,
she would be provided with stress reduction therapies such as communication therapy,
counseling and problem solving sessions (Richards et al., 2016). Further application of these
would help in reducing the depression, stress and other condition in Jenny’s health condition.
These sessions are helpful increasing patient confidence and provide them with empowerment
so that they could face such difficult life events without any stress or depression (Cohen &
Sherman, 2014). Further, to reduce her episodes of epileptic conditions, she would be provided

4CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
with cognitive behavioral therapy, self-reflection and other meditation and concentration
therapies so that she could centralize her thinks and could develop effective coping skills for
depression and stress from her life events (Baldwin et al., 2014). Further, to overcome the
second healthcare concern of financial stress and economic instability, she would be informed
about the local and state government driven organizations such as the Council of Single Mother
and Their Children so that she could overcome her financial strain and could take care of her
health and her daughter’s educational expenses. The healthcare professionals should work
together and develop a hopeful and positive environment around her so that she could
overcome her financial instability and through the help of the government aided stipend could
continue with her medication (Finsterer & Bersano, 2015). As per Hirtle et al. (2016), financial
instability is the primary reason of stress in majority of the people suffering from severe illness
and hence, it should be targeted as a priority by the community nursing professionals.
Evaluation of the outcome is the next step in clinical reasoning cycle as per which, by
assessing her MSME score and conducting interviews with the patient would provide detail
assessment of her health improvement. Further her level of stress and depression would be
assessed by understanding her thought process, her positive thinking and her approach to life
after completion of 5 weeks of patient interventions. Further while reflecting on the process I
would say that, the complete analysis of the Jenny Peterson’s case study helped me to
understand that healthcare conditions are associated to each other and the effect of mental
health was very crucial on her physical health. Therefore, these interventions were implemented
in the care process so that through application of these, her healthcare and employment related
problems could be mitigated.

5CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
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6CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
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