In this case study, a 55-year old woman who is an assistant executive at a local law firm is interviewed. The woman has worked at the firm for nine years and has had a seven-year respiratory illness history. The illness occurs at various times in the year and seems not to be connected to season changes. Additionally, the client does not use tobacco and she indicates that she often enjoys working near a courthouse that has been in place for more than a hundred years. She also points out that her colleagues also seem to suffer from similar illness throughout the year.
In this case, there are several pertinent pieces of information that would prove integral in determining the client’s illness and subsequent treatment. First, the social history that indicates the client has not had a history of tobacco use forms useful information for the client’s treatment. Further, here working arrangement and preference to work adjacent to the old courthouse can be classified as an important social history since it has the potential to point out to the likely cause for her respiratory illness ( Mighten, 2013) . Additionally, there is a past medical history showing that the client has been suffering from a respiratory illness throughout the year and the illness is not a factor the changes in seasons. The medical history also points out to the number of years that the client has been suffering from the illness ( Mighten, 2013) . Lastly, the patient’s concerns that her colleagues also seem to be suffering from similar respiratory illness that is not caused by changing seasons can be concluded to be pertinent information in this case.
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The process of risk assessment encompasses the identification of the various risks and hazards at a client’s workplace that have the potential to result into harm for the client ( Sexton, 2008) . While conducting the risk assessment for my client, I would identify the potential hazards and risk factors that have the ability to cause harm or lead to my client’s health problems. In this stage, I would look out for the situations, processes, and things at her workplace that may cause harm. Upon successful identification of the potential hazards and risks, I would make an evaluation and analysis of the likelihood of the risk and its severity if my client is exposed to it ( Sexton, 2008) . The information that I would use in this stage would include current and historical data as well as the concerns of the client on the risk, for example, as the client has indicated that she and her colleagues seem to suffer from a similar illness which is not related to changing seasons.
Exposure pathway is the way through which an individual comes into contact with a substance that is hazardous ( Lippmann, 2015) . In the case of my client, the possible exposure pathway would be inhalation. The client may be exposed and come into contact with the risk factor in vapor form or particulate matter ( Lippmann, 2015) . Through inhalation, vapor or particulate matter would enter the client’s respiratory system and result into the respiratory illness. The argument that inhalation is the exposure pathway for the client would be supported by the fact that this form of pathway is the most rapid route of uptake thus the long period which the client has suffered from respiratory illness noting that she has suffered from the illness for seven years out of the nine she has worked at the law firm.
References
Lippmann, M. (2015). Pathways and Measuring Exposure to Toxic Substances. Patty's Toxicology , 67-88. doi:10.1002/0471435139.tox002.pub2
Mighten, J. (2013). Nursing Assessment, History Taking and Collaborative Working. Children's Respiratory Nursing , 16-23. doi:10.1002/9781118702680.ch3
Sexton, K. (2008). Cumulative Risk Assessment for Environmental Hazards. Encyclopedia of Quantitative Risk Analysis and Assessment . doi:10.1002/9780470061596.risk0514
