This was my fifth clinical in med-surg having two patients. Again, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I hoped for the best. For my primary patient, I had a 59-year-old female who was admitted with a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation. She was an independent patient and who did well being at home without complications. As I listened to the report with my nurse, I was able to note that my patient has dealt with atrial fibrillation symptoms before and she was able to handle how she felt before. She could tell when her heart rate was fast and she could control it but this time she had come to the hospital is it was too much for her. We communicated well with one another and I was able to talk to her a little about nursing school. I was glad she was doing better and she indicated how she was ready to go home.
Noticing
What I had noticed initially about my patient was that she was using oxygen. As I assessed her breath sounds I was able to clearly hear wheezes. By …show more content…
As she has a history with smoking, it has affected her lung functions. She currently has COPD, which smoking in this case is the major contributor that condition. In COPD, chronic bronchitis is seen with COPD, which “it is characterized by inflammation of the larger airways, increased production of mucus, and chronic cough” (Yoost, 2016, p.951); causing the wheezing heard in the lungs. Along with the chronic bronchitis, the patient also has asthma, and by having both it can make it difficult to breath.
Knowing that the patient has these conditions helped guide my assessment by understanding how the condition is affecting her breathing. I was aware that the patient had hypertension, which helped me to monitor that during her assessment. I was able to individualize her care by making sure that she wasn’t having any difficulty breathing and checking whether she was having any pain. The patient responded well during the assessment and was alert with her
Noticing
What I had noticed initially about my patient was that she was using oxygen. As I assessed her breath sounds I was able to clearly hear wheezes. By …show more content…
As she has a history with smoking, it has affected her lung functions. She currently has COPD, which smoking in this case is the major contributor that condition. In COPD, chronic bronchitis is seen with COPD, which “it is characterized by inflammation of the larger airways, increased production of mucus, and chronic cough” (Yoost, 2016, p.951); causing the wheezing heard in the lungs. Along with the chronic bronchitis, the patient also has asthma, and by having both it can make it difficult to breath.
Knowing that the patient has these conditions helped guide my assessment by understanding how the condition is affecting her breathing. I was aware that the patient had hypertension, which helped me to monitor that during her assessment. I was able to individualize her care by making sure that she wasn’t having any difficulty breathing and checking whether she was having any pain. The patient responded well during the assessment and was alert with her