Lack Of Socialization, Nutritional, And Wound Care Education

Patients have needs unrelated to their illness or injury. Having spent my entire career in pediatrics, often my focus is on developmental needs and what activities can be provided that support normal development. Some needs, however, seem to be universal. The need for play, learning, and social contact are not restricted to children. Meeting the emotional and psychosocial needs of the patient without compromising the physical needs demanded by the illness or injury is occasionally a delicate balancing act, and is where the art of nursing meets the science of nursing. By collaborating with our patients and families and respecting their values, a plan can be reached that both supports their needs and involves them in their own care.

To be able to come up with the best nursing care plan, I need to know what is happening currently. I need have an understanding of how the family and the son are

Dale Gordon has been a patient in the ICU for 6 days after developing complications after open heart surgery. He is an 82-year-old African American who is disoriented to place and time. He lives with his daughter Claudia in her home. Claudia and her two brothers visit Mr. Gordon daily since he has been hospitalized. Mr. Gordon has not been eating well since the surgery and has lost 3 pounds. Mr. Gordon has type 2 diabetes and is on oral antihyperglycemic medication. Before he came to the hospital, Mr. Gordon was able to only ambulate for short distances. He has orders to get up in a chair twice a day. Joan, a student nurse, is caring for Mr. Gordon this morning. She has reviewed his medical record and is now ready to start caring for him.

Over this last week, I have received a patient named Sherman “Red” Yoder. He is an 80-year-old male farmer, who lives alone in the farmhouse that he had grown up in. Red was married for 50 years and has been a widow now for 10 years. Red has one son, Jon, who takes care of the farmhouse and the land. He has one daughter-in-law, Judy, who is in involved with his care. Red was diagnosed with diabetes six months ago. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition that affects your body 's ability to use the energy found in food. As of only a few weeks ago, Red has been managing his diabetes with insulin. Insulin is a hormone that controls blood sugar. Before he began using insulin, he managed his diabetes with oral medication. After carefully assessing Red’s chronic illness, diabetes, many red flags were presented that could interfere with his management. In turn, this would cause further complications.

Quantitatively this issue can be documented in readmission rate statistics alongside the morbidity and mortality rate among the readmission cohort. By identifying the number of patients with preventable readmissions, and then categorizing the increased incidence of infection and/or injury in this cohort compared to like populations without avoidable readmissions one could show the burden of readmission.

acutely ill patients. The nurse should allow the family to observe care and explain the

Further statistics have revealed around 20 percent of Medicare recipients released from hospitals were rehospitalized within thirty days and that 34 percent were readmitted within ninety days of being discharged ( Jencks, Williams, & Coleman, 2009). Additionally, Medicare will now penalize hospitals for patients who were readmitted within 30 days (Stone & Hoffman, 2010). Jenny Minott from Academy Health (2008) asserts “The transition from the inpatient to the outpatient setting is a critical point along the care continuum in which there is a real opportunity to prevent readmissions” (p. 5). Many believe that some hospital readmissions are avoidable and could be thwarted with fairly uncomplicated methods (Alper, O’Malley, & Greenwald, 2016; Anthony, Chetty, Kartha, McKenna, DePaoli, & Jack, 2005; Jacks, et al., 2009; Minott, 2008; Stone & Hoffman, 2010). Therefore, reducing hospital readmissions has been the center point of attention among hospitals, but the challenge has been identifying those components that are directly responsible for, including the quality of care during the hospitalization and the discharge planning (CDC, 2016). Wherefore, an area that needs considerable attention is the hospital discharge

Hospital readmission rates are thought to be a representation of poor quality and efficient care. Readmissions have become recognized as an emerging concern as they place a financial burden on the system as well as a personal burden on the patient and their family. Of patients that are discharged from hospitals, 19.4% will be readmitted within thirty days and 51.6% will be readmitted within one year (Roberts & Robinson, 2014). Reducing readmissions is very important to decrease costs for the patient and the facility, ensure hospitals are providing quality care, and decreasing the risk of the patient suffering from a secondary infection or injury. Every discipline plays a vital role in reducing readmission rates, including therapists and health

Ensuring that all people that come in contact with patients is informed on the topic could help a patient or family when they are facing a difficult time. Patients and families come in contact with many caregivers and may feel comfortable with someone other than their nurse. This is why I have decided that all staff members need to be educated.

There are many tools you can use to aide in education. You may use pamphlets, DVD’s, audio tapes, charts, models and other tool you can think of, depending on the age and mental capabilities of the patient.

high risk for readmission and have high-risk factors for high utilization to the healthcare system

Preventable hospital readmissions remain among one of the many serious quality issues plaguing the healthcare industry today. Readmissions can carry fiscal implications, impact patient safety, and outcomes of care (Helm, Alaeddini, Bretthauer, & Skolarus, 2016). The cost of unplanned hospital readmissions is estimated to be upwards of $15 billion dollars annually of which $12 billion has been associated with preventable admissions (Helm et al., 2016). It is highly recognized that as many as 20% of Medicare beneficiaries are presently being readmitted within 30 days of discharge (Hunter, Nelson, & Birmingham, 2013; Verhaegh, Mac-Neil-Vroomen, Eslami, Geerlings, de Rooij, et al., 2014). The presence of

Today I was assigned with the wound care nurse. She taught about the importance of repositioning patients at least every two hours to prevent pressure sores from happening. She also taught me how to do dressing while explaining what type of dressing should be applied to a specific wound. We did a lot of patient care teachings regarding pressure sore prevention such as offloading the patient’s feet when they’re lying supine. We used therapeutic communication when explaining to the nursing assistants the effective ways to promote a good circulation to patient’s extremities as

teaching is a very important aspect to nursing. It is vital to provide the patient with knowledge and information. Educating the patient and family with help with anxiety and ensure the patient receives the best care. The teaching process should be continued and constant throughout the patient’s entire stay. You should educate them on medications, diet, positioning, signs and symptoms of infection, incision care etc. Keeping the patient updated on plan of care will help the patient and nurse to achieve the overall goals.

Physicians like pharmacists for example, can take a minute or two with the patient and verbally explain