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Discussion

Care plan help!

Hello All!

I'm having some trouble connecting the dots & seeing all the pieces w/ my pt for this care plan. Im in med-surg 1. I would really appreciate a few ideas and some guidance; what do you guys see that I don't?

My pt: 63yo F. The day I had her, she'd been in the hospital for 10 days.

Admitting dx: Cellulitis of the R foot & septic shock.

Hx: DM (type 2), HTN, arthritis, GERD, hyperlipidemia, "COPD" (according to her, but not in chart). And she had cardiac bypass grafting done to 4 coronary arteries in '11.

Abnorm Labs: A1C 11.9- WBC 12.9- RBC 3.74- Na 133- Cl 96-Glucose 256- Albumin 3.2- MPV 9.6- Granulocytes 75.3- Eosinophil 0.3- Basophils 0.3.

& urinalysis: 3+ glucose, trace ketones, 1+ protein, 2.0 urobilinogen, "large amounts" of blood, 12 WBC, 8 RBC & "few" bacteria.

VS: 97.8 T, 20 R, 77 HR, 110/57 BP & apical HR 80. O2 is 99% on RA.

When I asked her to tell me about what happened- she told me she "stepped on a nail @ home BUT DIDN'T FEEL IT. and didn't know it was there until a family member saw the sore on her foot and said something to her" *

**So pausing right there: hx DM & HTN; glucose, ketones & protein in urine, A1C highhhh ANDDD she didn't NOT feel the nail go into her foot or the pain r/t it getting infected. I'm thinking some peripheral neuropathy and poor DM control, right?

***Another piece to that-her insulin regimen: Lantus 1x/day & 15-30u of Novolog for coverage. BUT she also receives 5u of Novolog routinely 3x/day. Which, to me, is another indication of poor DM control, right?

Picking back up from my assessment: LLE +1 non-pitting edema. L pedal pulse diminished but present. She had a cast/dressing on her R foot but R tibial pulse was present. Abdomen was soft and distended. I checked sensation in the L foot & it's diminished. She could "faintly" feel something. She c/o SOB and activity intolerance. I did a full head to toe assessment but besides what I listed-everything else was pretty uneventful (at least from what I see)

**Her albumin lab value also worries me, b/c that's r/t wound healing. & she is already impaired r/r the DM, HTN.

**She has a PICC line. & has had a CXR, CT of R foot, RLE venous Doppler. Along w/ a wound culture & an IND to the R foot.

Where do I go from here? I have all of this info but I feel like I'm missing something.

If you guys have any questions about her other labs, assessment data or the results of her tests please ask!

Thank you =]

Featured Replies

  • Experts
What can I do about the above issues? education, antibiotics, nutrition...but I kind of run blank after those things.

Good start. Think about the atelectasis and the activity intolerance, too. Don't forget about pain. There are a few more things you can do if you think about nursing interventions associated with those findings.

Thank you :) that's a huge compliment! and she is A&O x4, very easy to talk to. She acknowledges what's going on with her health but it seems like she doesn't acknowledge what's causing it. She is in a great deal of pain, like you said r/t the DM and the poor wound healing. He husband brought her in some juice and kfc for dinner -_- so I'm deff thinking that she obviously isn't followng Her diet. She is mobile; besides her foot and pain-she can walk and move around without difficulty.

I was thinking that the urinealysis was kinda of result of a two different 'beasts'. First-DM poor management and Second-septic shock.

I would then start with managing her pain and getting her to ambulate (see the issue of atelectasis above). So, Dx of acute pain and impaired walking. Then, for a psychosocial (my program requires 2 physio and 1 psychosocial Dx per care plan), deficient knowledge. That's what kind of care plan you could do for her in that shift. She really needs to be able to move around, even with the cellulitis (it's not fun, it's not pretty, it hurts like holy heck, but it's necessary. Easing her pain prior to that should help somewhat but this should be a lesson for her that if she was to get her DM under better control, things would really start feeling better. You can converse with her regarding her situation on being insulin-dependent. I mean, I guess that's what I would do. But otherwise, you've pretty much got it. Don't over-think it!! You got this! Good luck! :)

  • Experts
It is a fallacy that a nursing diagnosis cannot be related to a medical one. A common fallacy, but a fallacy nevertheless.

I absolutely agree. However, when I help lower level students with care plans, they tend to get so hung up over the medical diagnoses that they forget pertinent nursing diagnoses. But you're 100% correct :)

  • Author

Okay thank you =]

Good start. Think about the atelectasis and the activity intolerance, too. Don't forget about pain. There are a few more things you can do if you think about nursing interventions associated with those findings.
  • Author

Thank you very much for your helpful advice! =]

I would then start with managing her pain and getting her to ambulate (see the issue of atelectasis above). So, Dx of acute pain and impaired walking. Then, for a psychosocial (my program requires 2 physio and 1 psychosocial Dx per care plan), deficient knowledge. That's what kind of care plan you could do for her in that shift. She really needs to be able to move around, even with the cellulitis (it's not fun, it's not pretty, it hurts like holy heck, but it's necessary. Easing her pain prior to that should help somewhat but this should be a lesson for her that if she was to get her DM under better control, things would really start feeling better. You can converse with her regarding her situation on being insulin-dependent. I mean, I guess that's what I would do. But otherwise, you've pretty much got it. Don't over-think it!! You got this! Good luck! :)
  • Author

I have a question that might sound really stupid BUT I can't seem to trying to find the answer to it when I look it up. I know HTN decreases CO but how does DM decrease it?

  • Author

Also, I'm feeling kind of stuck. I know what N/I I can do for my pt. But I'm having trouble with getting 2 dx In order to sum up my N/I.

I have activity intolerance, impaired tissue integrity, ineffective tissue perfusion, impaired physical mobility BUT how do I choose which one to use? I almost feel like my dx's don't really hit the root of the issue. I might be making it too complicated again but I want to make sure that I'm able to condense my N/I into my dx and be able to hit the key points.

  • Experts
I have a question that might sound really stupid BUT I can't seem to trying to find the answer to it when I look it up. I know HTN decreases CO but how does DM decrease it?

OK, walk through this. What are some causes of decreased cardiac output? If you list those and then list the effects of DM on the body, you'll find your answer :)

Is there some reason you're limited to one or two? If you are, justify your priorities. Learning to do that is part of your education too.

Finally, if she (and her husband! He counts too!) had a better handle on her self-care, is there a chance she wouldn't be in this mess in the first case?

High BP doesn't necessarily lower CO. When you exercise, your blood pressure goes up because your body needs a bigger cardiac output. Chronic high blood pressure makes the myocardium grow, as with any muscle that works hard.

So ask yourself about the effect of long term increased resistance as a cause for this, and what happens sat the point when the myocardium just can't do it anymore.

  • Author

Okay =]

SOO decreased CO can be from CAD, atherosclerosis, HTN and anything that really AFFECTS the vessels, right? ITs about the effect on the vessels?

And DM causing macro and micro complications, including big affects on the vessels? which affects CO?

OK, walk through this. What are some causes of decreased cardiac output? If you list those and then list the effects of DM on the body, you'll find your answer :)
  • Author

We can only have 2 dx =/ and my last care plan was really good but my instructor saw that I had a big problem with condensing stuff and she noticed that im trying to do TOO much, making everything too wordy and too long. and yes I deff think that if she took better care of herself and her health than this whole thing wouldnt have happened to her. which tells me that's priority?

Is there some reason you're limited to one or two? If you are, justify your priorities. Learning to do that is part of your education too.

Finally, if she (and her husband! He counts too!) had a better handle on her self-care, is there a chance she wouldn't be in this mess in the first case?

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