Health Priorities - Nursing Case Study

Running head: HEALTH PRIORITIES
Health Priorities
-Nursing Case study
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HEALTH PRIORITIES
Contents
Part 1:.........................................................................................................2
The most likely chronic disease that fits and symptoms and history of
the patient:..............................................................................................2
Etiology and Pathophysiology of the disease that can justify the patient
condition:.................................................................................................2
Any additional information about the patient that can support the
diagnosis:.................................................................................................3
Part 2:.........................................................................................................3
An alternate diagnosis that can also explain the patient condition:.......3
Clinical data that can help to discriminate the two diagnoses:..............4
References:.................................................................................................6

2HEALTH PRIORITIES
Part 1:
The most likely chronic disease that fits and symptoms and history
of the patient:
The patient (Mr Bob Jackson, aged 55 years) was admitted to the
emergency department with a complaint of diarrhoea, nausea and
malaise. He was suffering from a Left Lower Quadrant pain and
diarrhoea for the last 1 week. He has a medical history of obesity,
hypertension, seasonal rhinitis, arterial fibrillation, depression and
osteoarthritis. Clinical examination revealed that he has a distension of
the lower abdomen, soft and tender abdomen in the lower left quarter,
mild obesity and increase in pain while moving.
The symptoms of diarrhoea, nausea, malaise, blood in the stool,
pain and tenderness in the left lower quadrant and pain while moving
can be related to diverticulitis. The diagnosis of diverticulitis can also be
supported by his history of obesity and hypertension (Sallinen et al. 2015). It
is known that patients suffering from diverticulitis show signs of frank
blood in the stool, experience pain in the left lower quadrant of the
abdomen and feeling of nausea and malaise and also might have
tenderness and dissention of the lower abdomen, all of which were also
seen in case of Mr Jackson. The patient is also a regular smoker which is
also known to increase the risks of diverticulitis. This suggests that the
patient might be suffering from diverticulitis (Kvasnovsky & Papagrigoriadis,
2015).
Etiology and Pathophysiology of the disease that can justify the
patient condition:
Diverticulitis or diverticular disease is a condition where the
pouches or diverticular in the intestine can get inflamed or infected. The
inflammation can be caused due to infection spreading to the diverticular
and can lead to perforations of the bowel. This can lead to intense pain,
especially in the lower left side of the abdomen as seen with the patient.
Studies have shown that diverticulitis develops the same way ad