Nursing Considerations for Gastroenteritis in Reginald Bowen

Reginald Bowen (Gastroenteritis) 1
Reginald Bowen (Gastroenteritis)
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Reginald Bowen (Gastroenteritis) 2
Introduction
Reginald Bowen is a 76-year-old male suffering from viral gastroenteritis, a medical
condition which has among other symptoms, acute abdominal pain, vomiting and passing
loose watery stool. It is quickly spread from one patient to the other thus some
considerations should be put in place to minimize this(Durisch and Mueller, 2014). Nursing
interventions are required as the infected patient’s health also deteriorates within a short span
of time(Zarkotou et al., 2012). The patient is likely to have acute pain and high loss of body
fluids through diarrhea. Under this essay, nursing considerations to minimize the spread of
the disease will be discussed. Health problems for the patient and appropriate nursing actions
to be taken will also be a focus.
Nursing Consideration
Gastroenteritis is transmitted from hand to mouth when a noninfected person touches a
contaminated surface(Tao et al., 2013). Therefore, healthcare givers should practice aseptic
hand hygiene after handling a patient and before proceeding to attend to another(Australian
Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2016). This is because viral gastroenteritis
is usually spread from person to person by the fecal-oral route and by coming in contact with
contaminated environmental surfaces(Durisch and Mueller, 2014). Aseptic hand wash
involves cleaning entirely every part of one’s hands with an antiseptic soap or solution,
rinsing them and drying before and after handling a patient.
Nursing Issues and Interventions
Gastroenteritis is associated with acute abdominal pain and cramping. Inflammation in
the gastrointestinal tract makes the body immune response to release cytokines and
prostaglandins which causes vascular permeability(Ingle and Hinge Ingle, 2013). This is

Reginald Bowen (Gastroenteritis) 3
perceived by the patient as pain in the abdominal region. An important nursing diagnosis, in
this case, is acute pain related to viral infection of the gastrointestinal tract as manifested by
the patient’s verbalization of pain in the abdominal region(Hooks, 2016). A nurse should
review the factors that aggravate or alleviate the pain. This will enable the nurse to plan for
the next course of action by lessening the aggravating factors and promoting the alleviating.
Appropriate analgesics should also be administered as they alleviate pain(Gundeslioglu et al.,
2016). Other pain relief measures such as massage, if not contraindicated, should be used as
they promote comfort and alleviate the problem(Zarkotou et al., 2012). A nurse should also
instruct the patient to perform constant deep breathing exercise as it reduces pain sensation
and promote comfort. Distractive activities such as socialization and entertaining strategies
should be put in place as they relieve pain(Hooks, 2016). These activities divert the patient’s
mind away from the pain perception thus relieving the problem. The patient should verbalize
pain relief after these strategies have been put in place.
Another nursing problem associated with gastroenteritis is deficient fluid volume.
Reginald Bowen lost a lot of body fluids through vomiting and passing large amounts of
loose watery stool. This causes fluids and electrolytes volume imbalance in the body. This is
manifested by the patient in the case study having frequent thirst, diarrhea, and
lethargy(Hooks, 2016). Deficient fluid volume related to excessive losses through normal
body openings as manifested by the patient passing loose watery stool and vomiting is an
appropriate nursing diagnosis in this case study(Durisch and Mueller, 2014). A nurse should
ensure adequate hydration by ensuring adequate fluid intake both intravenously and
orally(Hooks, 2016). As the patient is reporting of thirst and difficulty in urinating, he should
be encouraged to take a lot of oral fluids. This will prevent more dehydration and maintain a
high hydration status. Solid food intake should also be restricted in order to reduce intestinal