Case Study Analysis of Nursing Professional

Running head: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Student Name:
Student Number:
Course Code:
Term/Year:
Name Of Course Coordinator:
Name of Assignment:
Due Date for Submission:

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS1
Answer number 1:
One of the communication techniques that the nursing professional can implement for
Kathleen is the teach-back method. Patient teach-back includes communication skills among the
nurses through which the nurses ask patients to repeat a concept, set of instructions or health
information in her words (Ostlund et al., 2016). This communication technique aids the patient in
synthesizing the information and helping the provider at the same time to confirm whether the
patient had truly understood the information (Defenbaugh & Chikotas, 2016). Kathleen has a
number of disorders like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes type2,
hypertension (HTN) and others. Therefore, she was prescribed a number of medications that
include pills, liquids and even inhalers. Therefore, nursing professional should first need to
develop knowledge about the pathophysiology of the disorders, causes, symptoms and signs in
details. Following that she should teach her the dosage and frequency of the medications of
COPD and diabetes she needs to follow. She needs to give practical application on usage of the
inhalers. Patient teach-back method is a two way communication procedure, where Kathleen
would first understand the treatment procedures in details and then explain the entire thing to the
nurse in her own words. This would enable the nurse to understand whether all the information
communicated to the patient had been understood in the intended manner by the nurse (Dobber
et al., 2019). Kathleen’s history said she was a nurse, so the level of discussion can be
accordingly modified and finalized by the nurse as per Kathleen’s health literacy level.
Another communication procedure that the nurse can apply her is motivational
interviewing. Experts have seen that 60% of the different factors that affect the various risks of
early deaths among the patients are their individual health behaviors (40%) as well as
environmental and social factors (20%). In such a scenario, motivational interviewing has proved

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS2
to be effective (Schill & Caxaj, 2019). It is a collaborative communication approach that
promotes positive health behavior change and at the same time strengthens patient’s motivation
and commitment towards change (Dinh et al., 2016). From analyzing Kathleen’s case, it can be
seen that she is old now and had faced huge number of hurdles and hardships like stolen
generation in childhood, lost her husband and son and others. She might develop depression and
anxiety over age and might lose the will to live. She currently has only one earning member in
her family who is her son. Such social factors may affect her zeal to take care of her own health.
Bio-psycho-social model states that apart from biological factors, social and psychological
factors can also affect self-care among patients (Zambas & Wright, 2016). Motivational
interviewing can be explained as the evidence-based method of therapeutic communication that
helps patients to better understand and use their personal resources for identifying, creating,
implementing and sustaining positive changes in health behaviors as well as in decisions. The
five communication bases it incorporates are open-ended questions, affirmations, reflective
listening, summarizing and teach-back. In this way, nurse attending Kathleen can reduce her
stress and depressive symptoms, develop her motivations to own care, increase her satisfaction
and adherence to treatment protocols.
Answer 2:
The nurse attending Kathleen should be extra careful about her Aboriginal
background while developing the discharge plan. She should keep in mind her cultural
background, education level and social factors affecting her health. Effective discharge planning
comprises of five important components – referrals, understanding of the procedures, teaching,
post-treatment preparation and effective teamwork with other team-members to ensure best
care and patient satisfaction (Chow et al., 2017).