Designing Nursing Care Priorities for an Older Adult

Running head: ADULT CARE NURSING
Adult care Nursing
Name of the student
University name
Author’s note

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ADULT CARE NURSING
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................2
Body:......................................................................................................................................2
Part A:....................................................................................................................................2
Identification of nursing care priorities..................................................................................2
Considering the patient condition..............................................................................................2
Collection of cues.......................................................................................................................3
Processing information...............................................................................................................4
Developing nursing intervention based upon identifies issue....................................................4
Part B:.....................................................................................................................................6
Discussion regarding the top nursing priority........................................................................6
Setting the goal...........................................................................................................................6
Action plan.................................................................................................................................7
Evaluation of the patient outcomes............................................................................................7
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................8
References..............................................................................................................................9

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ADULT CARE NURSING
Introduction
The current assignment focuses upon adult nursing care practices and the implication
of the same in designing an effective care plan for the patient. The nursing care approaches
and interventions could be supported with the help of a number of evidence based programs.
The two such nursing interventions which have been adopted over here are the Miller’s
functional consequences theory and the Levitt Jones clinical reasoning cycle. The evidence
based model help in the development of priority base nursing care. Additionally, the
development of a priority based nursing plan helps in the development of a person centred
approach. The person centred approach helps in adjusting to the individual care needs of the
patient.
For the current assignment, the case study of Amalie Jones has been taken into
consideration. She is an 89 years old woman and is suffering from a number of co-morbid
conditions such as hypothyroidism, macular degeneration and rheumatoid arthritis and
requires effective nursing care.
Body:
Part A:
Identification of nursing care priorities
Considering the patient condition
Amalie Jones lives alone in a one storeyed apartment after the death of her husband.
Recently, the development of poor vision along with growing pain owing to rheumatoid
arthritis has made independent dwelling difficult for here placing more importance on nursing
care. On effective examination of the patient, it was found that the patient had past history of

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ADULT CARE NURSING
hypothyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis and macular degeneration. Amalie had always enjoyed
visiting her German association but poor eyesight made driving and visiting her friends
difficult for her. A range of other complications were noted in the nurse such as joint
stiffness, swollen feet and enlarged joints, limited or restricted movement , occasional
dizziness and significant amount of weight loss. As commented by McSherry et al. (2017),
the medications for hypothyroidism can further trigger the development of autoimmune
disorder such as rheumatoid arthritis in the patient. The restricted movement capacity has also
damaged the self confidence of the patient to a considerable level, where she felt the need to
depend upon nursing professionals for getting sufficient help and support
Collection of cues
Based upon some of the cues represented by the patient effective nursing
interventions could be designed. Amalie was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis which could
have been triggered due to old age. As mentioned by Evan, Walker-Tweed, Paunovic,
Olafson & Easton (2016), the rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder and often
results in destruction of the own body cells and tissues. The patient also reported to feeling
dizzy and tired, which could be related to low levels of thyroxin produced in the body of the
patient. As supported by Stayt, Seers & Tutton (2015), subclinical hypothyroidism is
associated with insulin resistance and is related to dylsipidemia in rheumatoid arthritis. The
low levels of thyroxin have been associated with increased out flux of potassium triggering
the situation of osteoporosis in the patient. Here, 665 mg of paracetamol was administered to
the patient three times a day, which was supplemented by 400 mf of ibuprofen. The patient
was further out on high doses of hydrochloroquine, which further reduced the pain owing to
rheumatoid arthritis in the patient.