Writing a paper

well, the way i see this, the paper is a informal introduction to the nursing process and critical thinking without actually having to write a care plan. actually this would be a case study. the way i think i would organize this paper would be to describe what an ischemic stroke is and give a little about the pathophysiology of it. discuss the kinds of motor impairments that occur with this kind of stroke. in essence, those motor impairments would come to light if you did a physical assessment of the patient not knowing anything about their medical condition anyway. assessment is the first step of the nursing process. each one of those impairments is something that not only the doctors, but we nurses can help the patient with. the doctors will have their own "thing", physical therapists have their own "thing", speech therapists have their own "thing" and we nurses have our own "thing" we can do. what you are being asked to do is to write about what we nurses can do for these motor impairments that do not require a doctor's order, the help of the physical therapist or speech therapist, but things we do all on our own based upon nursing principles. many of them will involve helping the patient achieve their adls (activities of daily living).

for example, if the patient is paralyzed on the right side and can only move the left arm, you, as a nurse are going to make sure that the bedside table and call bell are placed near the patient's left arm which he has use of. does that make sense to you? that is a simple illustration of an independent nursing intervention and action. you don't need a doctor's order to do that, nor does the physical therapist actually come up and move the bedside table for you. the nurse does this. it is based up you knowledge of the disease process and how it has affected the patient and, basically, common sense.

you've got some reading and exploring to do, kiddo! i would explore consumer websites particularly on family help needed to care for stroke patients because what a nurse can do for a patient is what you are going to ultimately teach to the family. i put together some web sites for you to explore.

• http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic558.htm - ischemic stroke
  
• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/stroke/article_em.htm - stroke. from emedicinehealth
  
• http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4761 - stroke effects
  
• http://www.medem.com/medlb/article_detaillb.cfm?article_id=zzzg34lru7c&sub_cat=75 - post stroke rehabilitation from medem medical library
  
• http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4713 - stroke rehabilitation
  
• http://www.stroke.org/site/pagenavigator/home - national stroke association http://www.stroke.org/site/pageserver?pagename=care
  
• http://www.ninds.nih.gov/ - national institute of neurological disorders and stroke
  • http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/stroke.htm - stroke information page
    
  • http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/stroke_rehabilitation.htm - stroke rehabilitation information

  [*]http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/strokerehabilitation/htm/index.htm - stroke rehabilitation. an online interactive tutorial from medline plus

  [*]http://www.strokecenter.org/pat/ot/index.htm - adapting the home after a stroke

  [*]http://www.stroke.org/site/pageserver?pagename=las - life after stroke: survivor and caregiver

  [*]http://www.stroke.org/site/pageserver?pagename=spast - spasticity and paralysis after stroke - see links at right side of page as well for more information on care

have fun! you might want to post these kinds of questions on one of the nursing student forums in order to get better responses. click on the "students" tab above to get a listing and links to them.