Assessment Details
Read the following case study:
You are a staff nurse working in an intensive care unit and assigned to care for a 75-year-old Asian man who had coronary artery bypass graft surgery four days ago. The patient has a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbated by heavy smoking. His postoperative course has been difficult, and he has suffered a number of setbacks. Staff members, despite their diligent efforts, have not been able to wean him off the ventilator since the surgery. He has required frequent suctioning throughout the shift, and he is being evaluated for the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Today, when returning from lunch, you observed that an experienced nurse was suctioning your patient. His secretions were thick, and you observed that the nurse was instilling saline into the patient’s endotracheal tube as she was suctioning him. The patient turned red and began coughing, and it was obvious he was in distress.
You asked the nurse why she was instilling saline into his endotracheal tube. She replied that this was being done to loosen the secretions. You told her this was no longer an acceptable practice. She stated that she had many years of critical care experience and she didn’t care what anyone said, that the only way you could loosen the patient’s secretions would be to instill saline. She also said that would be the last time she would do something for one of your patients while you were at lunch.
Determine a holistic plan of care for this ICU patient described in the case using the nursing process. Be sure to include the entire patient, not just his respiratory status.
Define each step of the nursing process and align each step to critical thinking and clinical decision-making processes.
Format your plan of care as a Word document report, aligning the nursing process steps to the critical thinking and clinical decision-making processes in a table, and include it in your final report. Your report will be delivered to your nursing supervisor for review.
Submit your assignment.
Assignment adapted from Leading and Managing in Nursing (Ch. 21), by Patricia S. Yoder-Wise, 2015, St Louis, MI: Elsevier. Copyright 2015 by Elsevier. Adapted with permission.
