Practice Portfolio of Evidence PART B: Clinical Encounter Analysis
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Read about a clinical encounter analysis of a patient post-surgery in ICU. Learn about the nursing problems, goals, and actions taken to resolve them. Desklib provides evidence-based literature to support the discussion.
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Becoming a RN: Practice consolidation Practice Portfolio of Evidence PART B: Clinical Encounter Analysis Consider the patient situation/context Provide an overview of the encounter. What happened, how it occurred, etc what was it that alerted you to that fact that you needed to take action in the encounter. (150 words) Mr Chris was a 62 year old patient who was in ICU post-surgery. He had a cholecystectomy a day before. The surgery was uneventful and his condition remained stable. He was on morphine and an IV was running at 84 ml/hr. 12 hours after the surgery, his blood pressure dropped in the early morning hours and a fluid challenge of 200mls was given to him. The surgical wound was assessed in the morning and it was normal. His stats were normal and the oxygen therapy was at 4 litres/minute. He was fully awake at 9 in the morning and kept complaining of dry mouth and said that he felt lightheaded. His consistent complains alarmed me and undertook reassessment of all the stats. He lived with his daughter but she was not in town for this surgery and is expected to see him soon. Review:what key information was already available to you and how did this influence your thinking?(eg: handover, history, charts, result of test, assessments,medical orders etc.). (150 words) Gather: What was the new information you gathered from additional assessment? Review: After considering Mr Chris’s condition, I reviewed his the information, I already had. He has a history of hypertension and was on beta-blockers. His chart revealed that one hour ago, his blood pressure was 130/80. His epidurals were increased after which he became uneasy. Relevant medications (where relevant):(not included in word count) Gather: On reassessing I found that he had raised temperature of 37, his blood pressure dropped to 95/60, respiratory rate was 22, Oxygen saturation level was 97%, urine output was 25 mL/hr and the epidural were running at 10ml/hr. I checked the catheter if it was blocked(McMillen & Pitcher, 2010).I gathered that his systolic blood pressure dropped by 25 points while the diastolic pressure was reduced by 20 points. His urine output also lowered. I also gathered additional new information of condition of oral mucosa which was dry. I also checked his cognitive status and he was a bit anxious. His skin colour was pale and turgor was poor. Lastly his level of thirst was evaluated again and patient reported extreme thirst. 1
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(150 words) Dot points are fine for this section Recall: Recall and apply your existing knowledge to the above situation to ensure you have a broad understanding of what is/may be occurring before proceeding with the rest of the cycle. What was telling you that the encounter was presenting you with a problem that required resolution? (200 words) Use scholarly, evidence-based literature/clinical guidelines and/or policy/NSQHS materials to substantiate your discussion Recall: A urine output of below 30ml hourly is a cause of concern. People often have a reduction in the urine output post-operatively which is a physiological reaction to the blood loss that results in declined glomerular filtration rate secondary to hypovolemia and hypotension. It could also be a response of adrenal cortex to stress which leads to increase inaldosteroneandantidiuretic hormone release. Sudden drop of blood pressure indicated of declined fluid status. A common cause of hypotension is hypovolemia which is declined blood volume. He also complained of dry mouth and light-headedness were due to the drop in blood pressure. Further, epidurals could have also lowered the blood pressure as they cause vasodilation. The mouth and mucous membranes dries out and the lips crack when the person is dehydrated like the symptom showed by Mr. Chris in the assessment of the mouth and oral mucosa(Scales & Pilsworth, 2008).In addition, skin turgor is also a sign of fluid status in majority of the patients. When skin of Mr. Chris was pinched over the sternum, it did not fall back immediately, showing a lack of hydration in him. 2
Process Information Interpret, relate and infer from the information gathered to demonstrate an overall understanding of the clinical encounter to determine the two main nursing problems. (400 words) Predict What could/would have happened in your encounter if you were to have taken NO action and why? Interpret, Relate and Infer: Mr. Chris was normally a hypertensive, so the BP was especially low for him. He also had an increased body temperature but the sudden drop of blood pressure and reduction in urine output concerns me the most. He was suffering from hypotension, tachycardia and oliguria. These can indicate for a shock soon if not managed immediately and appropriately. When last checked an hour ago his BP was completely fine. From that time till the next measurement, one change was made that the epidural was increased and after that the BP dropped. Other very common reason of low BP could be the reduced blood volume as he might have suffered blood loss during surgery. Due to external blood loss while surgery, he had decreased fluids. Dropped BP shows an imbalance in fluid status. A normal fluid status is when there is a balance between the input and output of fluids in the Mr. Chris’s body to enable the proper functioning of the metabolic processes(Welch, 2010).So correcting the lowered BP was essential. Further, the reduction of less than 30ml/hr in urine volume of Mr. Chris was also worrisome if it persisted as persistent oliguria can lead to renal tubular damage. On seeing urine output lower than 30ml/hour is should inform the doctor immediately. Mr. Chris was suffering from dehydration as his body had less water than it required to function appropriately. Some of the common physical symptoms of mild dehydration are abnormal cognitive functioning, lowered physical performance, headaches, fatigue, sunken eyes and dry, less elastic skin. Mr. Chris showed some of these signs such as cognitive functioning, dry and less elastic skin. It must be understood that If dehydration persisted in Mr. Chris’s body it can drop the circulating volume of blood can drop which may result in hypotension; tachycardia; weak, thready pulse; Cold hands and feet and lowered urine output(Large, 2005).Mr. Chris was already showing most of these signs such as hypotension, tachycardia and lowered urine output. 3
(100 words) Use scholarly, evidence-based literature/clinical guidelines and/or policy/NSQHS materials to substantiate your discussion Predict: People may have hypotension after a surgery. Reduced fluids in the body lead to dehydration which resulted in hypotension and oliguria. These symptoms of dehydration indicate that the patient may go in hypovolaemic shock which, if not managed, can cause organ failure and death. I must make up for the loss of fluid by giving more fluids to Mr. Chris. If mild dehydration is allowed to persist it can result in general worsening of health(Mulryan, 2009). Identify the Problem/s Listin order of prioritytwokey nursing problems that required resolution (not included in word count) Problem 1His BP dropped suddenly. Problem 2He had reduced urine output. Establish Goals & Take Action Work through thetwo nursing problems identified and establishonegoal and then rationalise with scholarly, evidence- based literature/clinical guidelines and/or policy/NSQHS materials the related nursing actions you did/would undertake (125 wordsfor each rationale section). Other sections not included in word count. Problem 1GoalRelated nursing actionsRationale His BP dropped suddenly.Get his BP up to normotensive level I will call the doctor to get an order to increase his IV rate and administer a fluid challenge. The primary reason for drop in the blood pressure of Mr. Chris is decrease in the fluids in his body so it is only essential that the fluid he lost during surgery must be made up externally. He will be unable to tolerate the food orally so the best route of administration would be intravenously. So it is rational that the most appropriate rate for IV fluid must be enquired by the doctor to achieve quick and safe outcomes Further when the fluids will enter his body other signs of dehydration apart from 4
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hypotension will also be relieved. Like dryness of mouth, lightheadedness, etc. which promote comfort of the patient. Problem 2GoalRelated nursing actionsRationale He had reduced urine output. Make his urine output at least 30-40mls per hour. Strictly monitor his input and hourly urine measures Mr. Chris’s IV fluid rate is increased which will make up for the loss of fluid in the body. In order to check that the fluids are administered as ordered, urine must be measured hourly. If the input of the fluid is adequate as his body requires, the urine output will increase. Increase in his average urine output is expected to be achieved through increasing the fluid IV rate which can be monitored only when the input and output is strictly monitored. It will also provide an insight on how effective this intervention was or whether patient requires other interventions for his condition. Evaluate outcomesThrough the care interventions provided to Mr. Chris, his BP was again brought to normal for now however, he will require careful 5
Evaluate the outcomes of your clinical encounter including effectiveness of the care provided with supporting evidence-based literature (100 words) *Do not ‘reflect on new learning’ in this section. This will occur in your next assessment (Part C). monitoring for next 24 hours. The average urine output was also above 30mL/hr for now. So, on evaluating the outcomes, it can be said that Mr. Chris’s fluid status improved slightly but he will be under observation. The actions of increasing the rate of IV fluids and monitoring the urine hourly was effective for now. It is expected that he will show further improvement in next four hours, in failing to achieve so, I will have to call the doctor again. References: Large, W., 2005. Fluid and electrolytes. In: Sheppard & Wright, eds.Principles and Practice of High Dependency Nursing.Edinburgh: Elsevier. McMillen & Pitcher, 2010. The balancing act: Body fluids and protecting patient health.British Journal of Healthcare Assistants,5(3), pp. 117-121. Mulryan, 2009. An introduction to shock..British Journal of Healthcare Assistants,3(1), pp. 21-24. Scales & Pilsworth, 2008. The importance of fluid balance in clinical practice.Nursing Standard,22(47), pp. 50-57. Welch, K., 2010. Fluid balance.Learning Disability Practice,13(6), pp. 33-38. 6