Need help with teaching plan! :)

[wackyj2000]

Hello all, i have clinical tomorrow and have not seen my patient but have researched alllllllll about her. I have to present a teaching plan tomorrow to my teacher then revise it after but im unsure of what to teach her that will be meaningful since i have not met her yet..... She is a 55yr old female- morbidly obese, that came in with chest pain radiating to her left arm.. shes been in for chest pain numerous times and had an MI AND DVT in left arm in 2004. She has a PMH of bipolar disorder, depression ( on many meds for it), mental status change due to letimal abuse, and COPD. I was thinking i could teach her about eating healthy but i wasnt sure if any of you guys had any other different ideas, i dont want her to take it offensively as me callin her "fat"... she also gets a duoneb treatment every four hours, which helps open up the lungs but i wasnt quite sure if they gave her an incentive spirometer.. if she doesnt have it, i prob cant teach her how to do it? ALL INPUT and ideas would be greatly appreciated..... thanks alot!:nuke:

[onyx77]

I think that diet teaching would be an important thing for this pt. Not just because of the obesity, but for the heart problems as well. Chest pain radiating to the left arm is a symptom of another MI. Diet is important - low fat, low salt, portion size, etc. Ofcouse loosing weight will help too! Does pt smoke? - this would be a great teaching point as well. Assessing the need for inhome care is a possibility as well.

Just think of the diagnoses and s/s that she has - what could you teach her that could help these with s/s? If you have a nursing diagnosis book, they are great resources to help get your mind ticking for teaching plans. Also check your textbooks, they are another great resource for teaching plans per disorder.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!