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Chapter 8 Case Study Essay

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Chapter 8 Case Study
Scenario: An elderly woman showed symptoms of near syncope and was admitted via ambulance to a small community hospital. She experienced an inability to move on her own and almost lost consciousness while watching her grandson play basketball. Her symptoms occurred during a visit to her daughter’s home, which is approximately 150 miles from Liza’s home. When Liza was admitted to the hospital, her daughter explained the numerous types and dosages of medications her mother was taking. She also mentioned that Liza had not been taking her Coumadin as directed by her physician for the past week or so. Liza was admitted to the intensive care unit for evaluation. Over the course of hospitalization, Liza’s condition worsened. …show more content…

Nursing assessment within 24 hours, Nutrition and hydration status, Functional status living, Social, spiritual, and cultural variables. Liza was admitted to the intensive care right away which wasn’t appropriate. The first step in the evaluation of a patient presenting with syncope consists of obtaining a detailed history and conducting a physical examination including blood pressure (BP) measurements and standard ECG. In this case, the nursing staff started began performing nervous system checks after 18 hours of her admission which is in my opinion was not appropriate because that should have been done right away after her arrival to the emergency room and after doing these evaluations, they should’ve decided on whether she was supposed to be admitted to intensive care or not. Also, the results of these tests would help them determine if a CT scan was needed and if needed, it should’ve been right away. In my opinion, Liza’s admission processes were not handled properly by the nursing staff at the hospital and her treatment was delayed. If all the processes were done on time and all the tests were done right away, her condition would not have worsened and she could have been started on anticoagulants for cerebral infarction. Patients have a better chance of survival and recovery if these drugs are taken within 12 hours of the incident. Most patients are administered these drugs within 90 minutes of hospital arrival.

2) What worked and what did not

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