The patient was brought in with difficulties in breathing. She shall remain in the hospital, under the care of the nurses until she can comfortably breathe. This could take a period of around 7 days after which she can be allowed to go home.
The patient sought medical attention after falling short of breath and had difficulties in breathing. The breathing difficulties could have been brought about by the inadequacy of oxygen reaching the lungs and consequently being supplied to the other tissues of the body. This in turn could be caused by the reduced number of red blood cells in the body which are responsible for carrying oxygen in the blood (Nairz et al, 2017). The deficiency of the red blood cells is closely associated to anemia, which is the general lack of enough blood in the body.
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To get precise diagnostic report, the patient required a complete blood count test to establish the number of red blood cells in the body as well as the hemoglobin levels. Further tests to establish the shape and size of the red blood cells may be required for complete diagnosis. An electrocardiography would also be needed to gauge the electrical activity of the heart.
The body systems requiring urgent assessment are the respiratory system and the blood circulation systems. The respiratory system requires the assessment to keep the breathing and oxygen levels of the patient in check. The cardiovascular system would need to be assessed to establish the condition of the blood being circulated in the body and the ability of the various organs in the system including the heart to sustain their functions.
The current nursing priority is to have the oxygen levels of the patient in check as well as their ability to breath. Getting enough blood and blood cells is also a key concern for the patient.
The immediate action on the patient would be to place the patient on artificial oxygen supply to supplement the little that she has in the body. The outcome for this would be to maintain the oxygen saturation at 90%. The nurse could also give medication though injection or tablets to ease the breathing difficulties by relaxing the respiratory muscles.
With continued shortness of breath, the possible complication would be the patient suffering from a heart failure or may even collapse and cease breathing due to the insufficient oxygen supply to the lungs and other body tissues.
To prevent the complication from happening, the patient could be placed under artificial oxygen supply in a relaxed environment so that she does not strain the respiratory tissues and make them too fatigued to function. Also, to avoid the occurrence of the heart failure, the patient may be needed to engage in some activity for example hand grip ball exercises to keep the blood circulating.
The nurse shall need to keep an eye on the patient to identify any furtherance of the difficulties in breathing, which could be characterized by whistling and whizzing of the chest or any body movements that would suggest the extreme inefficiency of oxygen in the body. The nurse could also need to use a stethoscope to keep monitoring the heart rate of the patient or may need to keep the patient under an electrocardiograph to keep a record of the behavior of the heart.
In the event that the complication occurs, the nurse may need to resuscitate the patient to give her some oxygen. The nurse may also need to use defibrillators on the patient in case of the heart failure.
Research shows that anemia among the elderly women accounts for a significant percentage of the deaths with 50% of these women in 12 countries under study being anemic (Johnson et al, 2016). The situation is worse for women who have a history of smoking behavior. These women often exhibit symptoms of shortness of breath. This data is directly relatable to the patient situation at hand. She has a history of smoking for 30 years and falls within the age bracket of the elderly and therefore needs prompt attention to avoid being part of the statistics.
The nursing priority to have the patient placed under artificial oxygen shall remain while waiting for a the blood transfusion exercise since the results from the lab showed a deficiency in most of the important blood elements including the red blood cells and hemoglobin. However, the nurse could consider the option of using some drugs that boost the number of the red blood cells although they are not as quickly effective as the transfusion.
Having blood transfused to the body of the patient as advised by the primary care provider would be an effective strategy of sustaining the life of the patient. Results from the lab show the insufficiency of the red blood cells that need to be added through the transfusion so that the blood circulation and oxygen transport throughout the body can resume to normal.
I would try convincing the patient that the matter is not as complicated as she would think and there are many cases of her kid that are reported daily. I would also assure the patient of the many cases that we have successfully handled and even had patients leave the hospital on the same day they are admitted.
The patient was traumatized that she may die now that she is already old. She tries to refer to her smoking behavior as the cause for the shortness of breath and regrets that she was a habitual smoker (Callahan, Lanier, &Park, 2018). I would assure the patient that the condition is almost common for elderly women, bearing in mind their bodies’ inability to generate new blood cells, having lost a lot of blood when they were in their fertility years in menses.
I would have aided in the use of defibrillators on the patient in case she depicted symptoms of heart failure. I would also intervene in the situation by assisting in the employment of the artificial oxygen systems and equipment on the patient.
The knowledge on the prevalence of shortness of breath among elderly women as symptom for anemia helped me in making the decision to have the patient placed under oxygen as they wait for a CBC test to evaluate the levels of red blood cells and hemoglobin in the blood.
In the event that there was another similar case, I would do everything as I did or this patient.
I learnt on the need to have information about the prevalence of certain symptoms among a specific part of the population and the possible accurate interpretation for the disease. If I had not been exposed to such information, I would have possibly misdiagnosed the problem to being a respiratory problem associated with long term smokingю
I intend to continue exploring research articles and news features to get exposure to the common symptoms that people experience and how they can be easily interpreted. This shall help in delivery of quick and accurate services to my patients.
References
Callahan, R. C, Lanier, J. B., &Park, J. J. (2018). Anemia in Older Adults. American family physician, 98(7).
Johnson, M. J., Bland, J. M., Gahbauer, E. A., Ekström, M., Sinnarajah, A., Gill, T. M., & Currow, D. C. (2016). Breathlessness in elderly adults during the last year of life sufficient to restrict activity: prevalence, pattern, and associated factors. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 64(1), 73-80.
Nairz, M., Acaster, S., Choi, S. E., Vo, P. T., Macciò, A., & Carroll, L. J. (2017). Advances in Anemia Therapy. Advances in Anemia Therapy, 314.
