NR305 - RN HEALTH ASSESSMENT

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NR305 - RN HEALTH ASSESSMENT WEEK 1 DISCUSSION Healthy People Initiative (graded) The topic this week asks you to apply what you have learned to the following case study. As the school nurse worki ... ng in a college health clinic, you see many opportunities to promote health. Maria is a 40-year-old Hispanic who is in her second year of nursing school. She complains of a 14-pound weight gain since starting school and is afraid of what this will do to both her appearance and health if the trend continues. After conducting her history, you learn that she is an excellent cook and she and her family love to eat foods that reflect their Hispanic heritage. She is married with two school-age children. She attends class a total of 15 hours per week, plus she must be present for 12 hours of labs and clinical. She maintains the household essentially by herself and does all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, and chauffeuring of the children. She states that she is lucky to get 6 hours of sleep per night, but that is okay with her. She lives 1 hour from campus and commutes each day. Using Healthy People 2020 and your text as a guide, answer the following questions. 1. What additional information would you like to gather from Maria? 2. What are Maria's real and potential health risks? 3. Why is Maria's culture important when obtaining the health assessment? 4. Pick one of Maria's health risks. What would be one reasonable short-term goal for this risk? 5. What nursing interventions would you incorporate into Maria's plan of care to assist her with meeting your chosen goal? Please provide rationale for your selections. In this discussion, you will need to address the Leading Health Indicators of Maria. An important part of assessment is being able to identify potential health risks and issues seen in those you care for. Upon thorough assessment, you will find many opportunities for you to educate your patient to promote health. Using Healthy People 2020 as a guide, discuss your answers to the questions presented in our first discussion. Maria seems to have a demanding role as a mother and nursing school student. Her weight gain could be attributable to a variety of factors including poor nutritional choices, stress, and sedentary habits. I would conduct a health history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes in the family as Healthy People People 2020, suggests family health history is an associated risk factor for such ailments. I would also ask her to elaborate on the foods that she consumes which reflects her Hispanic heritage to determine their nutritional values. As part of this dietary assessment, I would inquire if she consumes caffeine to see if it contributes to her lack of sleep. Stress could lead to weight gain and therefore I would assess how Maria handles with her busy schedule and whether she has a family support system to help with childcare. I would also ask if she partakes in light exercise such as walking to offset the 2-hour daily commute she spends sitting behind the wheel. Since she communicated concerns regarding her appearance and health, I would further support her in expressing her feelings to assess her level of self-esteem due to the effects of weight gain. Maria’s real health risks include obesity, imbalanced nutrition, and mental exhaustion from lack of sleep. Her potential health risks are diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Maria’s culture is relevant to the health assessment because it may influence her views and choices regarding her diet and lifestyle. She may be more likely follow advice that is better structured around her culture. According to Jarvis, “people from different cultures may interpret symptoms differently” (Jarvis, 2015, p. 8). [Show More]

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