Effective Nursing Practice: Influenza Management in Sunset Aged Care

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of effective nursing practices in managing influenza, particularly in aged care facilities. It highlights the importance of professional, client-centered care, emphasizing the need for a multidisciplinary approach, especially when treating elderly patients like Mr. Jimmy Holden. The essay discusses influenza transmission, the heightened risks it poses to older individuals due to weakened immune systems, and crucial infection control precautions. It underscores the significance of thorough risk assessments to prevent complications such as pneumonia, kidney failure, and myocarditis. Furthermore, the essay emphasizes culturally sensitive care for Aboriginal elders, involving Aboriginal Liaison Officers and general practitioners in the care team. The conclusion stresses the necessity of patient-centered, interdisciplinary care and adherence to infection control to ensure quality nursing outcomes and prevent the spread of influenza within healthcare facilities.

EFFECTIVE NURSING PRACTICE
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INSTITUTION:
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ABSTRACT.
Influenza is a seasonal disease that affects individuals especially the young below five years and
the old above sixty five years. It is caused by influenza virus which is a respiratory virus and
commonly affects people in the cold season. Precautions should be taken to avoid spread of
influenza virus from infected to uninfected individuals especially those in large group facilities.

Nurses taking care of aged infected individuals should carry out risks assessment to avoid the
many complications that occur among these people. Multidisciplinary approach to caring of aged
influenza patients is core to the treatment of aged patients in care facilities.
INTRODUCTION.
Professional client-centered nursing care is care given to individual patients according to their
specific needs. The patients are involved in the decision-making process concerning their
treatment and their needs both physical and emotional taken care of by the nurses. To offer
quality care nurses have to therapeutically connect to the patients and understand their cultural
and personal needs. A multidisciplinary approach is at the core of the patient-centered care and it
is useful in the treatment of aged patients. This essay will be discussing what influenza is, how it
is spread and the risks it poses to older people. Influenza infection control precautions, nursing

care and assessment of influenza aged patients, and an interdisciplinary approach to managing an
influenza patient will be discussed.
Influenza is a disease caused by respiratory RNA virus influenza virus. The influenza virus has
three subtypes A, B, C and belongs to the family Orthomyxoviridae (Ryu, 2016). Generally,
influenza affects a wide range of people during the cold or winter season. Under Baltimore
classification influenza virus falls in group five which has negative-sense single-stranded RNA
viruses. Influenza is commonly described as flu because of the respiratory and systemic
symptoms that influenza patients present with such as headache, fever, cough, and rhinorrhea.
Influenza transmission is higher when there are low humidity and low temperature. There are
three major modes of transmission that have been identified for influenza and they include
inhalation of aerosols containing the virus, coming into contact with contaminated objects such
as fomites and by directly contacting infected people. Inhalation of aerosols containing the virus
by un-infected person leads to infection through the respiratory route and this happens when an
infected person sings, coughs, sneezes or even speaks (Thangavel & Bouvier, 2014). When an
uninfected person comes into contact with influenza contaminated fomites such as pillows used
by an infected person they can easily get infected too. Spread by direct contact with infected
individuals happens when infected individuals touch un-infected individuals for example when
kissing. The risk to older person describes the dangers that influenza poses among the older
individuals upon being exposed to the disease (Smetana et al. 2018). Individuals aged 65yrs and
above where Mr. Jimmy Holden has an increased likelihood of developing serious complications
compared to healthy younger individuals. Aged individuals have a weakened immune system
that makes them prone to influenza complications such as croup, viral pneumonia, and
encephalopathy, myocarditis, and Guillen-Barre syndrome (Rothberg & Haessler, 2010).

Appropriate infection control precautions are fundamental in the prevention and control of
influenza. It is important that people wear protective clothing such as gloves when handling
infected fomites like pillows that have been used by infected people (Sydnor & Perl, 2011). This
will help limit the spread of influenza by coming into contact with infected fomites. Infected
individuals should wear face masks when they visit crowded places or even in their houses to
protect household members. This precaution helps protect un-infected individuals contact the
disease through aerosols released by infected people when they cough or sneeze. The face mask
prevents the release of viral containing aerosols from infected individuals. Hand hygiene is a
vital technique that is important in limiting the spread of influenza through direct contact with
infected individuals. People should aseptically wash their hands before coming into contact with
infected individuals and also after contact with these individuals (Anargh et al. 2013). Mr.
Jimmy Holden has been diagnosed with influenza and is currently living in Sunset Residential
Aged Care Facility meaning that several precautions have to be taken to avoid him spreading the
disease to people around him in the facility. He is visited by his two daughters and relatives
meaning that he poses a risk to them while they are visiting. The facility has to make sure they
thoroughly wash their hands before and after shaking his hands to limit the spread of the virus to
them while visiting. The facility can provide Mr. Jimmy Holden with a face mask to wear so that
the spread of the virus to his two daughters and relatives can be limited when he speaks to them.
The face mask will also help him spreading the virus to other facility users and health care
personnel taking care of him. Nurses handling his beddings should wear gloves at all times to
protect themselves from contracting the virus from the fomites that may be infected (National
Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). 2010).

Risks assessment are important for Mr. Jimmy Holden because of his age 68yrs so that he does
not develop complications. The nurse taking care of him should conduct a breathing assessment
because pulmonary complications such as viral pneumonia develop in aged individuals with
influenza and should be avoided (Yamashita et al. 2019). The nurse can look for respiratory
distress general signs in Mr. Jimmy Holden such as effort breathing, central cyanosis, and
abdominal breathing. The nurse can use a pulse oximeter to measure his peripheral oxygen
saturation. Checking for his breathing and oxygen saturation help in monitoring his pulmonary
function which is majorly affected by influenza (Okur et al. 2013). Kidney function tests such as
glomerular filtration rate and albumin to creatinine ratio should be done to monitor the kidneys.
Multi-organ failure is a complication of influenza and the nurse should assess this risk in Mr.
Jimmy Holden. A blood test is used to measure the glomerular filtration rate and determine the
function of the kidneys and this will be a vital test to assess risks in Mr. Jimmy Holden. Hearing
tests such as the use of an audiometer, Weber test, and Rinne test will help the nurse assess his
risk of getting ear infections that are a moderate complication of influenza. Ear infections may
cause hearing problems and by the nurse assessing his hearing functions any kind of hearing loss
can be prevented (Ten, Custers & Durning, 2018). An electrocardiogram can be used to assess
any risks that may lead to myocarditis which is a complication of influenza. Electrocardiogram is
a test that is not invasive and shows the electrical patterns of the heart on an electrocardiograph
and detects any abnormal rhythms of the heart. The can use this test to closely monitor Mr.
Jimmy Holden's' cardiac functioning (Ten, Custers & Durning, 2018). Mr. Jimmy Holden is an
Aboriginal elder which means that is a member of the Indigenous people of Australia and the
nurse must take this into account in order to offer nursing care that is culturally acceptable to

him. There are several ways a nurse can offer him culturally acceptable care such as asking him
what care he is comfortable with and the nurse accepting his cultural needs (Durey et al. 2017).
Health team personnel who may be involved in the care of Mr. Jimmy Holden are Aboriginal
Liaison officer and a general practitioner. Aboriginal Liaison Officers provide social, cultural
and emotional support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which a group Mr. Jimmy
Holden belongs to because he is an Aboriginal elder (De Witt et al. 2018). Aboriginal Liaison
Officer will help create cultural awareness to the nurses taking care of Mr. Jimmy Holden so that
health care services provided to him are culturally sensitive. A general practitioner will help in
managing Mr. Jimmy Holden condition so that he does not develop complications. The general
practitioner will prescribe drugs that he can use to treat his conditioner such as oseltamivir which
is a viral release inhibitor used to treat influenza. The nurses can offer quality care to Mr. Jimmy
Holden by using a multidisciplinary approach and ensure that he does not develop any
complication related to influenza.
CONCLUSION
Quality nursing care has to be patient-centered and interdisciplinary for the nursing goals to be
achieved efficiently. The nurses have to be sensitive to the patients' cultural needs and tailor
nursing care according to these needs. Influenza is a viral disease that can easily spread from one
infected individual to several uninfected people and therefore infection control precautions must
be strictly adhered to. Nurses working in health care facilities such as Sunset Residential Aged
Care Facility should be aware of these precautions to avoid the spread of the virus to other
people using the facility. Health care professionals such as nurses, general practitioners and
Aboriginal Liaison Officer in the case of Mr. Jimmy Holden have to work together to offer

patient-centered care. Older people are at higher risk of developing complications and so several
assessments should be done to them to avoid the risk of these complications developing.
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