Dr. Brien 's Decision Making

This case study and the following questions pertain to Mr. Londborg, who came into the hospital with trouble breathing. Through his health history, they found out that he has a history of seizures, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). His stay was extended in the hospital due to a respiratory tract infection, decreased kidney function, a blood clot in his leg, and a fall that could have been fatal. The following questions addressed throughout this paper will discuss what happened, why it happened and how it should now be prevented.

It is widely known that early recognition of a deteriorating patient can contribute largely to a successful outcome, through recognising and taking action on the deteriorating health status of the patient (National Consensus Statement, 2010). This report will explore the ways in which deteriorating patients and clinical reasoning are used in the public health care system in New South Wales (NSW).

Standing (2011), defines clinical decision-making as a complex process that involves observation, gathering information, critical thinking, evaluating evidence, applying necessary knowledge, reflection and problem-solving skills. Every day nurses make important clinical decisions and these decisions have important implications for patient outcomes and deserve serious consideration. Therefore, it is important for nurses to have a better insight of the decision-making process, be able to deliver holistic care and meet essential and complex physical and mental health needs of the patient.

The Lewis Blackman case is an unfortunate case of failure to be ready to deal with unexpected problems, failure to recognize the problem, and failure to respond to the crisis at hand. Clinical warning signs and symptoms were clearly present and even recognized by the healthcare team however, they failed to recognize the significance of the data and correlate it to impending crisis which lead to failure to rescue. There was a presence of understanding the data but a lack of cognitive ability to translate the data into meaningful information to guide decision making efforts. The focus of the team was obviously focused on the fact that the expected and anticipated plan of care for Lewis Blackman only accounted for a favorable outcome

A reflective analysis on a case presented via a video tape of a simulated patient with a minor injury.

Alfaro-LeFevre, R. (2013). Critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment : A practical approach (Fifth ed.).

Nursing practice requires both critical thinking and clinical reasoning. Critical thinking is the process of deliberate higher level thinking to define a patient’s problem, examine the evidence-based practice in caring for the patient’s, and make options in the delivery of optimal care. Critical thinking involves the demarcation of statements of fact, judgment, and opinion. The progression of critical thinking requires the nurse to think imaginatively, use reflection, and engage in logical thinking (Alfaro-LeFevre, 2013). Critical thinking is a vital skill needed for the recognition of patient’s

John was a 34 year old gentleman who presented himself to the Accident and Emergency Department (A & E) with swelling to his left leg. He was admitted on to the ward for investigations into a suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT) which is the formation of a blood clot (Hinchliff et al, 1996). My first communication with John was on his admission to the ward. Initially, I carried out some admission forms, which involved gathering

Clinical reasoning is embedded in nurses’ thinking for patient care (Levett-Jones 2013). It is a spiral, continuous mental process, underpinned by critical thinking theory and a sound body of nursing knowledge (Levett-Jones 2013). The clinical reasoning cycle includes considering patient’s situation, collecting cues, processing information, identifying problems, establishing goals, taking action, evaluating outcomes and reflecting on the process undertaken (Levett-Jones 2013). Nursing practice for registered nurses is guided both by the National Competency Standard (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2006) and the Nursing Practice Decision Flowchart (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2010) to ensure patients’ safety and to optimise care by challenging medical assumptions and facilitating evidence-based practice. The clinical reasoning framework, therefore, allows nurses to prioritise the most time sensitive and specific information, to recognise deteriorating patients and to manage complex clinical situations (Levett-Jones & Bourgeois 2011). This paper will focus on processing information and identifying the two major problems in the case study of Mr. Brown, a 74-year-old man, who was admitted to hospital after a ‘fainting’ episode with chief complaint of dizziness.

With the health care system changing so rapidly, it is important that nurses are autonomous. It is necessary, as patient advocates, that we understand the cause and effect of all entities involving our patients. Critical thinking and making the correct judgment call clinically is vital. A patient situation which comes to mind is an 86 year old female, weighing 50kg, Vital Signs: Blood Pressure: 80/50, Heart Rate: 102 (Sinus Tachycardia), Respirations:

Elliott, M., Page, K., and Worrall-Carter, L. (2012). Reason’s accident causation model: Application to adverse events in acute care. Contemporary Nurse, 43(1), 22-28.

In the emergency room, Rudd was connected to the cardiac monitor, labs were drawn and a 20-guage peripheral IV was started in the right arm. An IV infusion of nitroprusside was started and vital signs were recorded periodically. The Pain was assessed using a PQRST pain assessment method and Rudd rates throbbing pain bilaterally in the head with a pain score of 8 that aggravates with moving and does not radiate to elsewhere other than the head. The orthostatic BP shows no changes. The E.D physician decides to admit Rudd in CCU to further monitor his blood pressure and watch for any signs of organ damage. The E.D physician writes an order for pain management and transfer to CCU. The ER nurse

In the Book “The spirit catches you and you fall down” many of the characters didn’t apply reasoning. Reasoning means “thinking about the relations among statements; the mental process of making inferences.” Both Lias family and the staff of the MCMC hospitals were guilty of their inability to do this one incident after another resulting in Lia’s suffering. The doctors at the hospital most certainly had the ability to catch the epilepsy early on although funds weren’t abundant for MCMC they still had a staff that was well trained for all types of illnesses. Even the epilepsy had been the second time the Lee family went to seek treatment it could have saved Lia from getting

Clinical reasoning can be defined as, ‘the process by which nurses (and other clinicians) collect cues, process the information, come to an understanding of a patient’s problem or situation, plan and implement interventions, evaluate outcomes and reflect on and learn from the process’ (Levett-Jones & Hoffman 2013, p.4). It requires health professionals to be able to think critically and ensures better engagement and results for the patient (Tanner 2006, p.209). The Quality in Australian Healthcare Study (Wilson 1995, p.460) discovered that ‘cognitive failure’ resulted in approximately 57% of unfavourable clinical events involving the failure to produce and act correctly on clinical information. It also recognises that often nurse’s preconceptions and assumptions can greatly affect patient care and by going through such a process, one can take into account the holistic nature of the patient and provide the best, most appropriate care.

Johnny Obrien aged 79 years, presented to the Emergency Department after a fall at the RSL, resulting in a laceration on his left elbow which required 3 stitches. He lives by himself with no family close by, and has a history of hypertension and alcohol addiction. Clinical reasoning is a cyclic process, where cues are collected and their data processed to come to a conclusion of the patient situation so that appropriate interventions can be implemented and evaluated through reflective practices which allows for further learning (Levett-Jones 2013). Applying these clinical reasoning skills in practice is important as it has a positive impact on patient outcomes, resulting in less adverse effects due to the detection of patient deterioration throughout this process to ensure safe and effective care (Levett-Jones 2010).Subjective data is information from the patient’s point of view, including their feelings, perceptions and concerns, whereas objective data is information that is observable or measurable (Delmar Cengage Learning 2015).