My approach to nursing care will include ensuring that P receives continuous medical care as well as changing his lifestyle. The medical attention will ensure that P receives treatment for the CHF symptoms that occur. I would recommend that P gets Medicaid because he requires long term health care. Medicaid will relieve his wife from the heavy burden of medical bills. Change of lifestyle is very important for P because the major cause of heart diseases is the lack healthy lifestyle. I will insist that P abides to a strict diet that will help him improve his health. P will need to eat a healthy diet; get enough sleep; reduce stress; lose any excess weight; and exercise on a regular basis (NIH, 2015). My approach to health care will involve the combination of a healthy lifestyle and medical care.
The 4+ pitting edema; labored breathing; and moist lung crackles indicate that P’s condition is getting worse. That means that P requires a strict treatment plan. I would recommend that P should seek immediate medical attention. P is finding it hard to manage his polypharmacy. I would recommend that he sees a doctor so that he can be given drugs that he can manage based on his medical history. I will also stress the point that it is important for P to take his medication. Failure to take his medication may result in more severe outcomes (MC, 2016). It is important that P is aware that his suffering will be reduced if he takes his medication religiously. P will need to implement all the lifestyle changes suggested by the doctor. He will need someone to monitor him and ensure that he follows the doctor’s advice. P should attend all his medical checkups even if he does not have any complaint. Medication should improve P’s health. Surgery may be recommended if the medicines fail to work (Macon & Cherney, 2015).
I propose the use of technology and face-to-face method in the education of P and his wife about cardiomyopathy and CHF. Giving them brochures will not help them much because they will end up putting them aside and forgetting about these papers. I would recommend the use of technological devices such as mobile phones to store information about the disease (PN, 2016). P and his wife can get the information they need at the click of a button. I would also like to educate them together so that they can remind each other whenever one person forgets. I would also prefer to show them practically how to conduct the new lifestyle changes. It is easier to remember when you have a picture in mind (Macon et al., 2015).
I prefer to teach P about self-care. It is important for P to be able to take care of himself so that he is not rendered helpless when an emergency occurs (Macon et al., 2015). P’s wife is unable to get out of the house because P cannot take care of himself. It is important for her to get out and enjoy life. My teaching plan will incorporate self-care as well as home-care. P’s wife needs to learn how to take good care of P while at home so as to avoid more CHF symptoms. She can learn about home-care so that she is not overwhelmed by P’s medical condition.
References
NIH, (2015, Oct 23). Living With Cardiomyopathy. National Institute of Health. Retrieved from: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/cm/livingwith
MC, (2016). Cardiomyopathy. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cardiomyopathy/basics/definition/con-20026819
Macon, B. L., & Cherney, K. (2015, Nov 5). Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). Health Line. Retrieved from: http://www.healthline.com/health/congestive-heart-failure
PN, (2016). Five Tips for Providing Effective Patient Education. Practical Nursing. Retrieved from: http://www.practicalnursing.org/five-tips-providing-effective-patient-education
