HH is an elderly patient with a severe history of exposure to severe multidrug organisms. In particular, the patient has battled diabetes, hyperlipidemia, HTN, and COPD on a long-term basis. In other words, with his age, HH’s immune system is weak, which exposes him to numerous pathogens. The patient requires all-round care, especially for diseases and injuries common to an older adult. In particular, HH needs medical attention in diabetes, pneumonia, hypertension, COPD, cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression, dementia, falls, and other diseases of the elderly in the long run.
However, regarding his current medical condition, a perfect treatment regimen would be a broad empiric pneumonia therapy with an addition of anti-staphylococcal and anti-pseudomonal agents. The treatment regimen is right for HH for two reasons; first, because of his exposure to multidrug-resistant organisms (Zilberberg et al., 2016). Secondly, the regimen covers most of the possible pathogens that can cause chronic pneumonia. Thirdly, the de-escalation of the regimen depends on microbiologic cultures (Zilberberg et al., 2016). However, in the event microbiologic cultures have proven futile in identifying the pathogen in a similar situation as HH’s, urinary antigen tests can be adopted as an alternative testing procedure.
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The patient education strategy I would use for HH’s case is involving family members and loved ones. The purpose of the approach is to ensure an extra set of eyes and ears in digesting health information. In doing so, it would greatly help in meeting the patient's health needs. Involving family members provides another accountability mechanism that ensures the patient takes necessary steps towards their wellbeing (Lasa-Blandon et al., 2019). Research shows it is the best approach to care where the elderly or patients with severe cognitive issues are concerned (Lasa-Blandon et al., 2019). An elderly patient like HH may have trouble acquiring and retaining critical information that might b useful towards their recovery or prevent other illnesses.
References
Lasa-Blandon, M., Stasi, K., Hehir, A., & Fischer-Cartlidge, E. (2019, October). Patient education issues and strategies associated with immunotherapy. In Seminars in oncology nursing (Vol. 35, No. 5, p. 150933). WB Saunders.
Zilberberg, M. D., Nathanson, B. H., Sulham, K., Fan, W., & Shorr, A. F. (2016). Multidrug resistance, inappropriate empiric therapy, and hospital mortality in Acinetobacter baumannii pneumonia and sepsis. Critical Care , 20 (1), 1-10.
