The student nurse was assigned to care for a patient who had abdominal surgery.
ID: 128140 • Letter: T
Question
The student nurse was assigned to care for a patient who had abdominal surgery. The main nursing diagnosis was Acute pain. During data collection, the patient stated that she had some abdominal pain, and added that her left calf was sore from all the walking she had been doing. The nurse’s assessment of the patient’s abdomen revealed no abnormalities. However, the patient’s left calf was reddened, edematous, and tender. The nurse notified the primary nurse and documented the findings. Later that day, the patient was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Discuss how the nurse used specific critical thinking skills and the nursing process.
Explanation / Answer
The patient was diagnosed with Deep vein Thrombosis after an abdominal surgery. The nurse has used her critical thinking in the assessment and diagnosis of the client with DVT.Initially when the patient expressed abdominal pain the nurse identified the pain is because of surgery and her abdominal examination revealed no abnormalities. Following that the patient verbalised Sore/pain in the left leg while walking. The subjective data gave her cues for critically thinking on patient condition and hence she has done a focussed assessment on the left leg. she observed the leg with redness, edema and tenderness which are the typical symptoms of DVT. The nurse analysed the clinical features of patient with the Present history of abdominal surgery and immobility after surgery. All these data made her think about the diagnosis of DVT. She has notified the PHN and her diagnostic test revealed DVT. Thus the critical thinking of nurse assisted her in the assessment and diagnosis of patient's problem. With the correct diagnosis using critical thinking she can proceed very well with the planning,implementation and evaluation of nursing care. Because Correct diagnosis is an important determinant of appropriate nursing care.
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