Actual or Potential health concern project

[JohnWick]

Hi, I'm a first year practical nursing student and I'm working on a case-study for writing about assessing and identifying actual and potential health concerns related to a patient case study where I ultimatly need to understand the significance of the patient's health concerns and identify health promotion and illness prevention strategies to address the client's health concernsand ,which  I'm having trouble starting.

I am needing to choose two actual or 2 potential health problems or 1 of both for this patient and prioritise my conlusion. I'm finding it extremely overwhelming to know if I have the most important potential or actual probem. I think once I figure that out, I can work on the health promotion and/or illness prevention strategies for each actual or potential health concern that I identified

The case study begins with "60-year-old male of African descent. He is an executive in a high-tech company and works approximately 60-70 hours a week. He is married and looks after his elderly parents at home. He comes into the clinic for a checkup and reports that he has felt dizzy, began to have episodes of severe headaches and finds it hard to sleep at night. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 158 lbs. His vital signs are BP: 142/88, P: 90, T: 36.9 C, R: 15, O2 sat: 98%". 

[bitter_betsy, BSN]

Since you are new here - this is how it works.  When you come to us for help - give us your thoughts and why.  Tell us what you think - and then we help out.

Start with - What do you think his biggest concerns are? What does his race have to do with anything? Are his vitals normal? What are factors regarding his lifestyle? 

Make your own list of questions, answer them, and then start trying to identify what all of it means.  

It is hard in the beginning when you don't know, but you still have to make an attempt before we help out here.  We will absolutely help - we just won't do it for you.

[JohnWick]

9 hours ago, bitter_betsy said:

Since you are new here - this is how it works.  When you come to us for help - give us your thoughts and why.  Tell us what you think - and then we help out.

Start with - What do you think his biggest concerns are? What does his race have to do with anything? Are his vitals normal? What are factors regarding his lifestyle? 

Make your own list of questions, answer them, and then start trying to identify what all of it means.  

It is hard in the beginning when you don't know, but you still have to make an attempt before we help out here.  We will absolutely help - we just won't do it for you.

Okay, but my main question as of now for this topic is- is hypertension a actual health conern or a potential health concern.? I think its an actual health concern because the patient is suffering from it and exhibiting potential symptoms like headaches and dizziness also related to other factors. It's an abnormality that the patient already has. And a potential health concern is heart disease that hypertension can cause?

[bitter_betsy, BSN]

You are correct - he is clinically hypertensive at triage and heart disease is a concern.  Don't forget that his age and being an African male predisposes him to certain conditions as well.

With nursing school you can think yourself into a toilet bowl that never stops flushing.  Look at things that are right in front of you and determine the obvious.  In nursing school they won't make you go off the beaten path.  If you see a zebra - its a zebra - it isn't an albino tiger or a painted horse.  In real life it could be a pink flamingo in a halloween costume - but they aren't that mean to you yet. Just look for the zebras.

When in doubt go back to your patho book.  Determine which comes first. Like you said in this example - the untreated high blood pressure is/can cause heart disease.  What does untreated heart disease lead to?

You are on the right track - you've got this!!