Episodic Health Challenge

Mrs Gale is a 70 year old widow and retired unskilled worker. The patient lives alone and relies on her son to provide basic care,

Paranoid Schizophrenia is a disease that affects the brain in such a way that is distorts reality of those with the disease. Paranoid Schizophrenia is the most common type of Schizophrenia. The symptoms as listed by the Mayo Clinic are as follows:

In this paper one will give a description of the data established upon a case study. One will outline the major symptoms of the disorder discussed in the case. The disorder discussed in this case is Paranoid Schizophrenia. One will give a description of the client background. One will also describe any factors in the client background that may predispose him or her to the disorder. One will describe symptoms that he or she may have observed that supports the diagnosis of the individual. One will describe the inconsistency of the disorder found in the case and explain any information observed about the

Susan is a 78 year old widowed lady who was admitted to a medical ward following an episode of coffee brown vomiting and breathlessness. Susan has a past medical history of chronic

PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS Psychotic disorders are a collection of disorders in which psychosis predominates the symptom complex. Psychosis is defined as a gross impairment in reality testing. Specific psychotic symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, ideas of reference, and disorders of thought Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV)

According to Garber, Gross, and Slonim (2010) paranoid schizophrenia is mainly characterized by auditory hallucinations and delusions. The delusions people experience are mainly about been someone famous, been persecuted unfairly, or conspiracy theories. People suffering from paranoid schizophrenia will have normal intellectual functioning, which

It can be very frustrating at times dealing with the family members of the older patient that I see in the emergency room. I have such limited time to take care of everyone’s needs before the next patient comes in by ambulance that I often forget how the family feels seeing their parent on an emergency room cart in pain and confused. My definition of the comfort I can provide in the emergency room are often very different from the family’s expectations. According to Gerontological Nursing (Tabloski, 2014), the attending nurse needs to understand the patient and family’s goals, wishes and values to attend to their

Hospital social work is time limited and the focus could easily be more directed at problems rather than solutions. Patients enter the hospital with a physical problem and desire to leave with answers. In this type of environment the focus can be on the physical ailment rather than additional factors that may be contributing to physical distress. Environmental factors can promote well-being or become a barrier to wellness. An ecological perspective provides a lens to view patient systems in a broader context.

First of all, I recognized that I was dealing with humans, and not just dealing with a disease process and application of the nursing process in the aspect of restoring patient health. I was dealing with emotions, and families, and cultural beliefs that influenced individual’s aspects of care. I started to see that health did not just incorporate healing the disease, but also recognized the importance of making sure patient’s felt that their

I have gained full consent to use this lady as my patient in my care study. Consent is important as you must always gain permission from the patient in regards to their care plan and keep them fully informed. ‘It is vital that the person consents before any treatment, care, examination or assessment’ (Brooker et al., 2007, p.157). ‘Confidentiality is a fundamental part of professional practice that protects human rights’ (NMC, 2008). To maintain my patient’s confidentiality throughout my care study I am going to call her Annie. Annie is a 72 year old lady whose care I have been involved with on placement. Annie’s medical history included; previous left hip replacement, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and

Paranoid Personality Disorder is classified by the DSM-IV-TR as a Cluster A personality disorder with onset usually by early adulthood (APA, 2000). The disorder has been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) since its conception in 1952 (Falkum, Pedersen, & Karterud, 2009). PPD is noted by some researchers to be one of the most common, and severe types of personality disorder; consequently, because of the suspicious nature of the individuals presenting with the illness, treatment may be more impervious but of greater concern is the fact that many individuals will go undiagnosed and untreated because of the reluctance to seek treatment at all (Esterberg, Goulding, & Walker, 2010; MacManus & Fahy, 2008).

The patient was a female on her 80s who was admitted to the hospital because of the COPD exacerbation. She had a history of stroke with minor residual effects, smoking, hypertension, and schizoaffective disorder - a chronic mental condition that is manifested mainly by the symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations or delusions, and mood disorder symptoms like manic or depressive episodes (NAMI, 2017). Patient length of stay was more than 300 days. She had two daughters who visited her everyday.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, paranoid schizophrenia, “ is the presence of prominent delusions or auditory hallucinations in the context of relative preservation of cognitive functioning and affect” (APA, 1994 p.287). Since this subtype of schizophrenia affects the cognitive portion of the brain that perceives things, in this person, it causes him to also suffer from somatic delusions. This is a type of delusion that relates to the functions, sensations, and physical appearance of the body, causing the person to believe that their body is diseased or abnormal (APA, 2000).

cause an ongoing loss of contact with reality. Other mental health conditions that may sometimes

The patient is a single mother of four. She lives with her children at her bought home. She is a manager at ABC real estate Agency. She actively participates in community health and development programs. She eats home-made food and tries to avoid fast foods as much as possible. She does not smoke, but she takes a glass of wine occasionally. She exercises rarely.