Question about which patho to use...

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If anyone could offer an opinion, I'd be most appreciative. Working on my care plan for tomorrow a.m. clinical. Pt is 81yo M, and I have to pick one patho. He has a hx of CHF and went to the ED with SOB. An xray revealed pneumonia, but his NT pro BNP was 4500. He's on Levaquin, Nitro and Diovan. Any suggestions? My nsg dx has to correlate to the patho but I don't know whether to go with CHF or pneumonia. I'm a 2nd semester student, and I could use any help. Thank you in advance!

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

All you have talked about are results of medical tests. You assessed this patient. What kinds of physical symptoms was he having? They will help lead you to his major nursing problems. A care plan is about solving his nursing problems. Tweak your care plan to show what kind of nursing care he is going to need based on what his symptoms reveal.

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Right; it's just that I have to include a patho of one thing (either his CHF or his pneumonia) and I don't know which is the more important one.

Edited to add: I haven't assessed him. I've only read his chart. We have to do a care plan before the clinical, and that's when we assess.

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Specializes in NICU.

I think the patho for CHF would be more interesting, but I would pick the pneumonia since it is most likely an immediate concern that you'll deal with tomorrow. Out of curiosity, which did you choose?

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Then, I would go with what he was being admitted for.

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Thanks, all, for your input! I really appreciate it. I ended up using CHF, and I am glad I did at this point, because when I was with him yesterday, it was the main thing his hospital care plan (which I had not yet seen) was focusing on.

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