care plan for iron deficiency anemia

Nursing Students Student Assist

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I am in the process of making a care plan for iron deficiency anemia. My diagnosis is Altered Nutrition: less than body requirements related to inadequte intake or absorption of iron (I wrote something like that, don't remember word for word at the moment). Anyways I am having trouble with some of the outcomes for the care plan. The first outcome is have the pt eat a diet high in iron and my second one is that the pt will be absent of decreased weakness and fatigue. I need to come up with one more outcome. I am looking all over online and can't find anything and its frustrating me. Help!

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Specializes in ER trauma, ICU - trauma, neuro surgical.

Hopefully this will turn on a light...Don't just concentrate on the iron part of it. Remember that you are also talking about anemia. Iron-deficiency is just the cause of the the anemia. There's a whole list of complications that are associated with anemia. You hit on weakness and fatigue. What else can happen to people with low red blood cell counts? Hemoglobin carries oxygen, doesn't it? wink, wink.

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You are not making a nursing care plan for iron-deficiency anemia. You are making a nursing plan of care for a person with that medical diagnosis. Please wrap your mind around the difference.

Your diagnosis should have something to say about your desired outcome. If her diet has been insufficient in nutrients ( you have assessed that, I take it) then your goal would be that it would be adequate in nutrients.

If you have assessed weakness and fatigue (what is the nursing diagnosis that has those as defining characteristics? Hint: See page 231 in the NANDA-I 2012-2014, free 2-day shipping for students at Amazon), that is a separate nursing diagnosis that is very applicable to a patient like that. What would you do to make life easier for someone with this problem while she is in your care? You are not responsible for curing her medical diagnosis; you are helping her live with its effects as well as possible while the medical plan of care works on curing her.

Let us hear your thoughts on this patient's nursing management while she is in care.. think like a nurse.

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