Nursing Activity 2: Patient Care and Caregiver Wellbeing Analysis

This nursing assignment, titled "Activity 2," addresses clinical presentations and appropriate nursing interventions for patients experiencing respiratory difficulties, wound management issues, and pain. It outlines specific interventions such as maintaining optimal patient positioning, providing supplemental oxygen, monitoring skin integrity, and implementing pain relief measures. The assignment also examines the importance of mouth and skin care. Furthermore, the assignment includes a reflection on the challenges faced by palliative care providers and the significance of preventing burnout and compassion fatigue through strategies such as self-reflection, self-care, and maintaining a separation between personal and professional life. The assignment underscores the need for nurses to prioritize their emotional and social wellbeing to effectively care for their patients, referencing key concepts and sources on burnout and compassion fatigue, as well as provides relevant nursing practices.

Surname 1
Name
Course
Professor
Date
Activity 2
Health Information Clinical Presentation Possible Nursing Intervention
Respiratory difficulties  Labored and fast breathing
 Rapid pulse rate
 Low blood pressure
 Muscle fatigue
 General body weakness
 Wheezing
 Maintain optimal position for
nursing to reduce work of
breathing
 Conduct complete respiratory
assessment to check for
changes or decompensation
 Provide supplemental oxygen
when necessary
 Check for conditions that can
increase the demand for
oxygen i.e. anemia and fever.
Wound Management  Presence of necrotic or
devitalized tissue
 Inflammation
 Monitor the temperature,
edema, moisture, color and
general appearance of skin
 Monitor any changes in
sensation or pain
 Pay close attention to skin
folds and other high-risk
areas
 Monitor the state of skin
around the wound
Pain  Verbal complaints of pain
by patient
 Guarding of painful part
 Expressive behavior
 Change in tone of the
muscle i.e. rigidity or
weakness
 Conduct pain relief measures
on the patient
 Eliminate additional stressors
 Ensure there is sufficient rest
periods to enhance sleep,
relaxation, and relief
 Use local anesthetic agents
when necessary
 Massage of area of hot and
cold compress
Hypertension  Headache and/or Blurred
vision
 Assess the patient’s headache
pain level and blurred vision

Surname 2
 Atypical chest symptoms
 Dizziness
 Epistaxis

every 4 hours until absent.
 Assess the characteristic of
the chest pain and
 Administer and titrate
vasodilator medications to
meet md parameters for blood
pressure.-
 Direct pressure to the front of
the nose and use of nasal
decongestants:
Oxymetazoline or
neosynephrine
Mouth care and skin
care
 Dry mouth
 Apthous ulceration

 Sprays containing water or
cool, pleasant drinks most
helpful and chewing gum
 Pilocarpine to stimulate
salivation
 simple dietary modification
during an episode of
ulceration
 Promote patient participation
in selecting the preferred
treatment option.
Bladder and bowel care  Bowel incontinence  Encourage and help the
patient develop a daily bowel
program
 Daily assessment of patients’
bowel movements and
frequencies
Reflection
Naturally, palliative care providers focus more on improving the lives of the patients and
give all their time and effort in ensuring this is possible. However, there are various challenges
and deleterious implications on the part of the caregiver. This is because devoting fully to caring
for others comes with work-related stressors. In order to uphold my emotional and social
wellbeing, there is a need to guard against the effects of occupational stressors such as
compassion fatigue and burnout.

Surname 3
Burnout and compassion fatigue are crucial aspects that need to be kept in check to
guarantee the overall well-being of the nurses. According to Christina Maslach, this is an
“unintentional end point” for people that are exposed to continuing stress within their work place
(20). Whenever an individual experiences burnout, it is accompanied by a sense of emotional
exhaustion alongside other implications. This is dangerous because it can lead to other effects
such as a reduction in performance levels, increased absenteeism from work, a direct impact on
the patients who are dependent on the nursing services. Conversely, Susan Moeller defines
compassion fatigue as an emotional strain due to exposure to individuals that are suffering from
the effects of traumatic events (88). This situation is different from burnout but the two can be
manifested simultaneously in a person. Nurses are at risk of this situation because they interact
with many people who are in stressful states. Therefore, there is a need to establish measures to
mitigate effects of burnout and compassion fatigue on caregivers.
The first strategy that can be crucial in helping to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue
is self-reflection and care. As indicated by Potter et al, nurses must always revert to self-
reflection strategies after having difficult days at work because it helps in telling apart the
emotions they experience and understanding why they are coming up (727) Sometimes, it is
possible that what I am feeling is not as a result of the patients I handle but due to emotions that
come up due to ongoing in my personal life. For this reason, such reflection can help in
mitigating compassion fatigue. Equally, self-care through interventions such as getting adequate
sleep, exercising, eating a well-balanced diet can help in preventing burnout. This requires
activities such as Yoga and meditation to help in relaxation and promoting my spiritual and
personal growth.

Surname 4
Separating my personal life and work is an effective strategy that I can use to prevent
burnout and compassion. The demands of being a caregiver are high because one needs to care
for their family, themselves, and the patients at work. Thinking of work-related occurrences at
home and personal problems at work leads to emotional problems (Stern 97). For this reason, it
is important for me to keep the two as separate as I can because it reduces the emotional burden
and helps me to relax. This would reduce the emotional load helping me maintain a stable state
to continue doing my work at the highest level.

Surname 5
Work Cited
Maslach, Christina. "Burnout: A multidimensional perspective." Professional burnout.
Routledge, 2017. 19-32.
Moeller, Susan D. "Compassion fatigue." Visual Global Politics. Routledge, 2018. 87-92.
Potter, Patricia A., et al. Fundamentals of Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences, 2016.
Stern, David J. "Managing Compassion Fatigue." Jewish Relational Care AZ. Routledge, 2013.
95-108.