Caring for the Nguyens
During the interview and physical examination of Mr. Nguyen, the nurse is able to gather enough information and identify the existing problems. Relying on the complaints of the patient and his family history, certain conclusions have to be made. However, the creation of medical and nursing diagnoses requires special approaches and observations. In this paper, attention should be paid to the differences between nursing and medical problems, their etiologies, and the role of a nurse in a treatment process.
Problem List of the Case and Personal Recommendations
In the case under analysis, Mr. Nguyen is a patient with a number of health problems. According to Treas et al. (2018), a health problem is a condition that needs intervention to prevent or treat a disease. There are two types of diagnoses the patient could get after the assessment: nursing (a statement of the patient’s health status) and medical (a description of an illness). The problem list that includes obesity, hypertension, musculoskeletal pain, tobacco abuse, and family history of prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes is a list of medical diagnoses, not a nursing one. If I, as a nurse, generated this problem list, I would focus on a person and his responses to health problems. Therefore, it is expected to mention such conditions as acute pain, impaired physical mobility, risks for decreased cardiac output, and imbalanced nutrition.
Actual, Potential, and Wellness Diagnoses
During the assessment, Mr. Nguyen mentions a number of problems on the basis of which different diagnoses could be offered. For example, an actual nursing diagnosis follows problem responses that exist at the moment of the examination (Treas et al., 2018). Impaired physical mobility may be related to bilateral knee pain. Potential or risk nursing diagnosis defines a problem that could occur if no treatment is offered, and Mr. Nguyen is at risk of having decreased cardiac output due to elevated blood pressure at the time of the assessment (Park et al., 2018). Talking about wellness diagnoses (readiness to improve his well-being), Mr. Nguyen demonstrates his readiness for enhanced examination and predicting the progress of family diseases. The NANDA-I labels in these problems are impaired (damaged or weakened), decreased (lessened), and risk (vulnerability due to family history).
Mr. Nguyen’s Nutritional Status
To determine the etiology of the chosen problem, more information about the patient’s eating habits, available diets, and the preferred activity level is required. At this moment, a two-part diagnostic statement that describes Mr. Nguyen’s nutritional status may be imbalanced nutrition: more than body requirements. To be more exact and using a three-art statement, Mr. Nguyen is diagnosed with imbalanced nutrition: more than body requirements related to psychosocial factors evidenced by weight (165 lb and 5’4’’) over optimum body weight.
Diagnostic Statement to Acute Knee Pain
During the examination, the nurse also identified acute knee pain as an actual health problem for Mr. Nguyen. Osteoarthritis may be a medical condition that serves as a trigger for his problem. One of its possible nursing diagnoses is impaired physical mobility that is related to pain. Therefore, it is correct to use a two-part diagnostic statement to describe the patient’s health status. In this case, it is acute knee pain secondary to osteoarthritis.
Conclusion
In general, as soon as the patient addresses a hospital, it is expected to obtain a clear diagnosis and a treatment plan. However, Nguyen’s case shows that health problems may be of different types and lead to the development of several diagnoses, including medical and nursing ones. There is no need to hurry up and give statements without clear reasons and cues. As a result, this work shows how cooperation between a patient and a nurse is organized and what expectations are observed.
References
Park, C., Fraser, A., Howe, L. D., Jones, S., Smith, G. D., Lawlor, D. A., Chaturvedi, N., & Hughes, A. D. (2018). Elevated blood pressure in adolescent is attributable to a combination of elevated cardiac output and total peripheral resistance: Evidence against a hyperkinetic state. Hypertension, 72(5), 1103-1108.
Trease, L. S., Wilkinson, J. M., Barnett, K. L., & Smith, M. H. (2018). Basic nursing: Thinking, doing, and caring (2nd ed.). F. A. Davis Company.