Trauma Case Studies

The author is a nurse in a level two trauma facility in a community of approximately fifty thousand people in Oregon. The community is a college-town surrounded by a large agricultural area. There is a minimal ethnic diversity within the community. The diversity present occurs mainly from internationally students and faculty from the college. There is a growing population of women who desire low interventional births in the community. The author has worked on the labor and delivery unit of the hospital for the last 14 years. The hospital is the only one in the area to offer trial of labor services to women who have previously undergone a cesarean section. The unit on average experiences around 1000 deliveries annually.

National study reporting that among pregnant women in the United States, homicide is the second most predominant cause of traumatic death. Research indicates a number of other poor health and mental consequences for both mother and child when IPV occurs during pregnancy. In practice, fewer than 10 percent of health-care practitioners consistently screen for IPV. Social workers have the opportunity to influence the issue of IVP and pregnancy at various levels comprises the delivery of effective services to survivors. Social work practice is beneficial, therefore, in assessment, intervention, referral, prevention, policymaking, and research processes are related to IPV and pregnancy. The purpose of this article is to provide a review of this study on the scope and impact of IPV during pregnancy and to identify best practices for social workers for intervention. Iovanni &Miller, (2001) discuss the focus on recent development in the criminal justice system’s handling of the domestic violence cases. During the 1070s and early 980s the victims’ rights movement and the women’s movement took a stance against the criminal justice system as a whole. As a result of the battered women’s shelter movement exposed how widespread and common DV was and demonstrated that women who are battered are not pathologically ill. The article analyses the

For most women, pregnancy is a time of joy and happiness for the life she is about to bring into this world. Unfortunately, this is not the case for women who experience intimate partner violence during such a precious milestone in their life. Intimate partner violence during pregnancy refers to violent acts including physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence or threats of sexual violence committed by an intimate male partner such as a husband, boyfriend, or common law partner that are inflicted on a pregnant woman. Intimate partner violence can affect women during pregnancy and during the postnatal period with devastating effects on both the women and the unborn child. Domestic violence against women is more

Pregnant women who have been sexually abused as children need to be assessed during pregnancy to make sure they are at their healthiest, which includes psychologically, physically, and emotionally. Healthcare workers should assess the women for any concerns they may have about their past issues with sexual abuse. Their past is affecting their present state of well-being. Women who have been abused as children are less likely to take care of themselves for fear of pain or being in the presence of a gynecological

Many women have a time in their life where they have a pregnancy loss whether it’s an abortion, miscarriage, or stillborn. A lot of mothers go into depression when the loss of their baby is out of their control such as miscarriages and still born. There are family members very close to me who went through this such as my mother who had a miscarriage with in the first trimester and my first cousin who had at still born in fourth trimester. This information is imperative so women can be careful when they are pregnant; also before the pregnancy occurs the information in particular about stillborn and miscarriages is important for potential mothers to know certain procedures they could do in order to prevent and prepare for this tragedy.

Approximately one percent of births each year result in a birth injury, physical harm to the mother or baby during childbirth due to medical negligence. Birth injuries can result in broken bones, brain damage, never damage or a combination of the three. Unfortunately, most birth injuries have lasting effects on the infant that can lead to a lifetime of medical care. These lasting birth injuries include cerebral palsy, Erb's palsy, brain injuries and spinal injuries.

Expecting a child or children can be an exciting experience for expecting parents; however, it may take a physical and mental toll on the mother. During the nine-month period of pregnancy, the baby forms and grows inside the mother’s womb, but all the while the development becomes stronger, the mother becomes weaker. Side effects of pregnancy can include morning sickness, frequent urination, constipation, weaker tissue, and many more obnoxious occurrences. One of the less common side effects that affect the pregnancy altogether is a miscarriage, in which the mother loses the child/children in the first twenty weeks. There are many situations that can lead to miscarriages, such as the egg having an incorrect number of chromosomes, the egg not

Aside from the medical part of her care, it was the self physical care in which the midwife I was working with, taught Jessa how to do. This is what I found was the most effective for her, as it helped with the repair of her perineum and it also gave her a sense of control over her care. Basic things to relieve the pain and trauma were like ice packs on the area, being educated on a low-residue diet to reduce the frequency of stools (Abdul & Ranee, 2006), cleaning the area with just saline or water to prevent stinging and further pain, and also a range of pelvic floor exercises for when she gets home to try (Abdul & Ranee, 2006). By Jessa being educated on these self care techniques, it gave her a sense of confidence that she was able to go home and not rely on the midwives to help her get through it. This what I believe to be a extremely important role of the midwife during a womans post natal care as it is following the care on to beyond the hospital setting. The physiological care that Jessa received was extremely consistent with what I had learnt, and I believe the way the midwives went about it was incredible. By the end of my placement I could see a definite improvement in Jessa’s physical health.

In the United States, as many as eight babies out of 1,000 live births suffer a significant birth injury and nearly half of those are avoidable. In many cases, there were steps that could have been taken to avoid injury to the infant and have a more positive outcome. Although parents may not be able to control every situation that could result in an injury, such as an error made by a doctor or midwife, there are some things they can do to minimize the risk of injury to their child.

Trauma- Patient who is pregnant or may be suspicion of pregnancy has increased risk of being victims of domestic violence. Therefore, the stress of being victim of domestic violence may cause irregular menstrual cycle in some women. Consequently, abdominal pain and cramping may come, not only from the inflicted trauma, but also from somatization of stress. Some clinical presentation includes bruises of various colors, due to different stages of healing, which can be seen on any part of the body, but especially on the abdomen and can cause trauma to the fetus, especially because it is less visible to the public. Therefore, as health care providers, nurse practitioner has a huge role to be careful aware of the patient’s body language and response to physical touch (Renner & Reese-Schwab,

“Eclampsia is a condition that causes a pregnant woman, usually previously diagnosed with preeclampsia (high blood pressure and protein in the urine), to develop seizures or coma.” (Eclampsia Early Signs & Symptoms, Postpartum, and Treatments). When Eclampsia begins to occur this leads to preterm labor. After 37 weeks, it’s okay for a mother to have her newborn baby. However, preterm labor drags on the labor process. This begins to make the whole process difficult and more dangerous. The infant could potentially be developing lung and breathing problems. “Preterm birth is the most common cause of infant death and is the leading cause of long-term disability related to the nervous system in children.” (Preterm Labor and Birth: Overview). The nervous system controls your brain. This system is able to tell you when to move, when to blink, when to touch and a lot more different things. The fetal nervous system is one of the first system that is developed, that’s why it is so important that these health problems are aware of as soon as possible. Infant mortality is also very common in Eclampsia. “Infant mortality refers to deaths of young children, typically those less than one year of age. It is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births.” (Infant

It’s always frightening when you are involved in an automobile accident, your fear will be magnified, especially when you’re pregnant. Automobile accidents, presents a number of risks to pregnant women, no matter how little the effect of the accident. The complications of being in an automobile accident is severe and it is because of the sudden stop in motion. this jostle the pregnant woman and harm the baby. Physical injury to a pregnant woman does not mean the she will suffer a big blow to her abdomen. However, the impact of a sudden low-speed car is enough for the baby in the abdomen to get injured. In a high-risk pregnancy, the risk is more and if the woman is involved in a more serious automobile accident during this

According to the retrospective study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, pregnant women who sustained traumatic injuries and were triaged to trauma centers experienced

The global leading cause of maternal death is postpartum hemorrhaging (PPH), which is the loss of more than 500 milliliters of blood after delivery. “More than 30 percent of all maternal deaths worldwide are attributable to PPH, accounting for approximately 130,000 deaths and 2.6 million disabled women every year” (Massachusetts General Hospital, 2016). Not all PPH cases are avoidable or expected, but they can be treated and prevented if bleeding is immediately controlled and managed. This requires the maternity staff to be competent, have sharp critical thinking skills, uterine medications, supplies, and blood products at their disposal. Timing is the key component to saving a woman’s life during a

From taking this class, I have gained significant understanding of biological determinants of women’s health. Learning about the number of unique biological risks women face is important to understand for me because I am a woman and this risks are likely to pertain to me as well. One of topic of biological aspect of women’s health we covered in class were risks factors associated with pregnancy, its complication and pregnancy itself. Understanding about maternal death and number of causes such as hemorrhage, sepsis, hypertensive, and abortion