Managing Mental and Emotional Distress in a Patient with a Broken Leg

SLIDE: 2
Reasons:-
• Max have had leg a fracture in his right lower leg and have just had his fractures realigned. It
seemed that his wound was deep and had a row of stitches. Max might be probably suffering
from mental or emotional distress, while coping up with the pain and discomfort with the
broken leg. Matt is susceptible to adjustment disorder, which develops when someone needs to
modify his /her normal activities such as walking, exercise, playing, driving or other recreations.
• Matt’s family might be anxious of how the Matt would manage the daily chores and were also
anxious about the Matt’s reaction to this temporary disability. Another factor is that Matt’s
parents might express worry regarding the relapse of the wound infection if they carry Matt
home as they are perturbed whether they would be able to take right care of Matt.
• As parents, they are over concerned about the health of their son. Though the fracture might
get cured over time under the medical treatment, but this is the basic instinct of the parents
that they remain concerned about their child even if the issue is minor. Moreover, Matt is not
watching Television or playing computer games and this is another concern because, such
manifestations might put Matt depression while withdrawing him normal activities.
Slide 3
It is the duty of nurse to assure the family that complications can be avoided by proper monitoring,
documenting and reporting to the appropriate persons, such as the doctors and the nurses.
• Counseling and stress management can be useful in reducing the anxiety.
The parents can be assure by the care givers that proper care and adherence to the treatment regimen
will help Matt to return to the normal pace of life.
• Parents should be encouraged to remain mentally strong, as the stresses are often passed to the
children and they may feel guilty for being responsible for everything.
• Via arranging a meeting of other parents who are passing through the same condition with
Matt’s parents, a community based nurse or a mental health nurse may actually sympathize
them. Moreover, this kind of gesture will also increase a sense of confidence and hope among
the parents of Matt and they will feel hopefull about the overall condition of Matte. They will
also get metal strength to support Matte.
Slide 4
Swollen legs after breaking of bones may be due the inflammation that has caused in the that area after
the surgery. Smelly discharge from the wound may indicate towards infections. Fever is common after a
surgery that can occur from surgical trauma in patients. Post operative fever may also indicate towards
infection (Kigin & McNeil, 2013).