Pathophysiology and Nursing Management Analysis of Mrs. J's Case Study

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Mrs. J's case, a 63-year-old woman with a medical history of chronic heart failure, hypertension, and COPD. The report evaluates her health history, clinical manifestations (fever, nausea, anxiety, pain, exhaustion, and productive cough), and the appropriateness of nursing interventions, including inhaled bronchodilators, Flovent, oxygen delivery, IV furosemide, Enalapril, Metoprolol, and morphine sulfate. It explores the pathophysiology of cardiovascular conditions leading to heart failure, such as coronary artery disease, heart attack, and cardiomyopathy, and discusses the importance of multiple drug prescriptions. The report emphasizes the role of nursing interventions like drug evaluation, communication, and safe medication storage. Additionally, it outlines health promotion strategies, including smoking cessation programs, respiratory inhalers, and lifestyle modifications such as healthy diet, exercise, and breathing control techniques. The report concludes by highlighting the need for nursing interventions to address tobacco use and prevent exacerbation of Mrs. J's conditions.

Running head: PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND NURSING MANAGEMENT 1
Pathophysiology and Nursing Management
Name of Author
Institution of Affiliation
Date of Submission

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND NURSING MANAGEMENT 2
Pathophysiology and Nursing Management
The case is about Mrs. J who is a 63- year old woman. As per the case, she has a medical
history of chronic heart failure, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. This
paper evaluates the health history and medical information for Mrs. J presented in the case.
Based on the information from the case, the paper formulates a conclusion based on evaluation
of the case presented.
As per the case, Mrs. J is admitted to the hospital because of her clinical manifestation
such as fever, nausea, malaise and productive cough. Besides, the patient is very anxious,
experiences pain especially when breathing. Another clinical manifestation of Mrs. J is
exhaustion which makes it hard for her to eat or drink by herself.
The nursing interventions used in Mrs. J’s case were appropriate as it was able to make
the patient improve from her health condition. One of the nursing interventions was inhaled
short-acting bronchodilator which was used to relieve the patient from acute asthma. Also,
Flovent was used to prevent any asthma attacks and Oxygen delivery provided to increase
oxygen airflow to Mrs. J.
From my point of view, the nursing intervention of administering the patient with IV
furosemide (Lasix) is to cure hypertension that Mrs. J is experiencing. The other medication that
was Mrs. J was administered was Enalapril (Vasotec). The medication is crucial as it is effective
in the treatment of hypertension. Besides, the medication was important as it was administered to
treat symptomatic congestive heart failure, a condition that Mrs. J might be suffering from
following her clinical manifestation. Also, the main reason for the nurse administering
Metoprolol (Lopressor was to cure clinical manifestation of high blood pressure, heart pain, and

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND NURSING MANAGEMENT 3
abnormal heart rhythms all of which Mrs. J is experiencing. Furthermore, the administration of
morphine sulfate (Morphine) was crucial as it was used to cure severe pain that Mrs. J is
experiencing.
Various cardiovascular conditions can result in heart failure. One of these conditions is
coronary artery disease which refers to the disorder that affects the coronary arteries that supply
the heart muscles with blood. It affects by blocking these arteries which lower or prevents the
supply of blood in the heart (ADA, 2016). Another condition is heart attack which results from a
sudden block of the coronary arteries causing scars in the heart’s tissues thereby reducing the
ability of the heart to pump blood in all parts of the body. The third condition is cardiomyopathy
which may be a result of the damage of the heart muscle by drug side effects such as smoking.
Another condition is high blood pressure which remains a major factor for heart failure. High
blood pressure in blood vessels makes the heart pump harder than normal and overtime, this
makes heart chambers to get larger and weaker.
Prescribing multiple drugs can result in adverse effects urinary incontinence and
cognitive impairment. To prevent these adverse effects, various nursing interventions should be
intervened. One of the nursing interventions is the evaluation of each drug by taking into
consideration factors like the patient’s life expectancy and care goals. The other nursing
intervention is the utilization of instruction and good communication. Nurses are supposed to
maintain good communication with the patient and advise her to take drugs based on the
instructions given by the prescriber. The third nursing intervention is to advise the patient not to
share the medication with other patients and advise them to store a cool and dry place that is
secured. The other nursing intervention is to advise the patient to keep an accurate list of all the
drugs by including the prescribed dosage, its frequency as well as the reason for its prescription.

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND NURSING MANAGEMENT 4
There are various health promotions as well as a restoration teaching plan that Mrs. J can
be provided with. One of these health promotion resources is a smoking cessation program that
involves nicotine replacement therapy (Puhan et al., 2016). The provision of a smoking cessation
program will help Mrs. J quit smoking tobacco thus reducing the risk of getting COPD and heart
failure disorders. The other resource that can be used to help manage Mrs. J’s condition is the
use of respiratory inhalers as well as all medication that can cure her current health condition.
For Mrs. J to manage in staying with her condition, I will educate her to eat a healthy
diet, do regular exercise which is crucial in strengthening her endurance. Also, I will educate her
to control her breathing and discuss with her breathing positions as well as relaxation techniques
that she can utilize when in short breath.
The various triggers of COPD include bacterial or viral infection, chemical fumes, dust,
polluted air and smoking of tobacco (McCarthy et al., 2015). As in the case, of Mrs. J the use of
tobacco is the main risk factor that exposed her to COPD thus increasing exacerbation frequency.
Mrs. J should be advised to immediately stop smoking tobacco as its use will increasing the risk
of diseases such as COPD, heart failure among other disorders. In conclusion, the use of tobacco
is the main risk factor that has exposed Mrs. J with her current condition thus there is the need
for nursing intervention to ensure she stops smoking tobacco.

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References
American Diabetes Association. (2016). 8. Cardiovascular disease and risk
management. Diabetes care, 39(Supplement 1), S60-S71
McCarthy, B., Casey, D., Devane, D., Murphy, K., Murphy, E., & Lacasse, Y. (2015).
Pulmonary rehabilitation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cochrane database
of systematic reviews, (2).
Puhan, M. A., Gimeno‐Santos, E., Cates, C. J., & Troosters, T. (2016). Pulmonary rehabilitation
following exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cochrane database of
systematic reviews, (12).
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