View the full lesson here: https://academy.nursing.com/lesson/nursing-care-plan-ncp-for-pressure-ulcer-decubitus-ulcer-pressure-injury/?quiz-view=open

All right. Let’s work through an example Nursing Care Plan for a patient with a pressure ulcer or pressure ulcers, right? Let’s look at the hypothetical patient. Let’s think just about what we might see on this specific patient regarding the pressure ulcers. So subjective data, if I have a patient with a big wound, whether it’s on their sacrum or their shoulder or their leg, they’re probably going to be pretty uncomfortable, right? They might actually have some pain, right? Or they could potentially have some tenderness over the area, especially over those bony prominences. So that’s something to think about for sure. Then you might actually see it, right? We’re actually gonna see the pressure ulcer. So depending on the stage, stage one to stage four, make sure you check out the lesson on pressure ulcers inside of the med surg integumentary course to know how to stage these pressure ulcers.

Find the full lesson here: https://academy.nursing.com/lesson/nursing-care-plan-ncp-for-encephalopathy/

This here is the nursing care plan for encephalopathy. So, the pathophysiology. Encephalopathy is a general term for disease of the brain tissue. It’s a syndrome of brain dysfunction caused by damage to brain tissue and failure. This damage can be done by atrophy, lack of oxygen, edema, or toxins. So some nursing considerations, there are a few things that we want to consider when taking care of these patients, we want to consider putting them on seizure precautions. So we want these patients to be protected. The best way to do that is with seizure precautions. We want to do vital signs. We want to monitor their vitals.

We want to do frequent neuro checks and if available and if necessary, we would need to monitor their ICP. And we want to draw labs; more importantly, ammonia and finding levels to see if that is the root cause. The desired outcome for these patients is to treat or reverse the cause in order to restore proper brain function, it returns the patient to their usual baseline mental status. So when this patient comes in to you, this encephalopathic patient comes in to see you. There’s going to be a few things that we see, but there’s going to be some things that either them or their family tells us. Some of the subjective data that we see is that they are going to complain about mood or personality changes.

Find the full lesson here: https://academy.nursing.com/lesson/nursing-care-plan-ncp-for-abdominal-pain/

First, we’re going to collect our data. Remember, our data is just our assessment, so subjective from the patient and objective from the nurse. A patient with abdominal pain, that’s having symptoms, the subjective data for this patient is likely going to be the pain, maybe they have a decreased appetite, and how about some nausea? Those kinds of things are going to be all their subjective data.

For objective data, maybe they feel really restless. This is what the nurse is observing. Let’s say we see on this patient, that the patient is having some guarding of the abdomen. Maybe some rebound tenderness when they’re pushed down. Maybe we see, or assess the patient and realize they’re constipated or have constant vomiting or diarrhea. These kinds of things will be our objective data.

My hypothetical patient for our care plan will say that they’re having abdominal pain and it’s from excessive vomiting. We have to analyze the information. This is going to help us to diagnose and prioritize. So what is the problem? Well, the problem is the pain and the problem is that they are having some excessive vomiting. So, what needs to be improved? What can we do to improve or what needs to be improved to help the patient, is going to be the pain, right, but more than that, we need to, for this patient, we need to fix the vomiting, so that can help fix the pain. What is our priority? So, our priority is going to be to stop the vomiting and to help that abdomen just not be so tender right, so stop that vomiting, which is going to help with the pain for this patient and relieve that pain.

Working as a nurse in the ICU, I cared for many patients who are burned into my mind and heart forever.

One of those patients was a young mom, in her early 40s with children in their early teens, who had suffered from cancer that had metastasized to her brain.

She was incredibly sick, and this cancer was extremely advanced.

One night as I cared for her, she was feeling exceptionally sick.

Just a couple hours into the shift, I was preparing her for bed. Her family stepped out and went home for the night. I could see that this night she was very upset - more so than other nights.

She was low on energy, she was sad, she looked weaker than normal.

Within moments of her family leaving for the night, she passed away quietly.

Nursing is hard, find hope at NURSING.com

❤️ Happy Nursing!

Jon Haws, RN

Them: "How can we help?"

Me: "I don't know . . ."

The hardest part is I honestly don't know what will help. [many of you know I struggle with depression, anxiety, bipolar, and OCD]

This is a conversation I've had countless times over the last year. If only I had some sort of ailment that could be SEEN and FIXED . . . why can't it be a broken arm? A simple cast would "fix" the problem in just a matter of weeks.

With mental health, you read the books, you do the checklists, you take the meds, you attend counseling . . . but at any moment . . . around any corner . . . there it is - ready to crush your hope and happiness.

Each time you start a new medication you feel hopeful . . . "this time it will work"

And each time a new medication doesn't help, you feel a bit more hopeless . . . "maybe I am beyond repair.

Visit us at NURSING.com to rekindle your hope.

❤️ Happy Nursing!

Jon Haws, RN

I've been where you are.

During my first semester of nursing school, I walked into a room of 25 students who would be my cohort. As I scanned the faces, a chill ran down my spine.

"I'm the only lucky one here," I thought. "Everyone else is so much more prepared. I hope no one discovers how dumb I am."

This feeling didn't go away after graduation.

On my first day as a new grad nurse in the Neuro ICU of a large Trauma I hospital in Dallas, I was sweating, out of breath, and utterly convinced I'd slipped through the cracks in the hiring process.

I was certain all the other new nurses had gone to better schools, done better internships, and would survive orientation when I wouldn't.

Visit NURSING.com to find the hope you need right now.

❤️ Happy Nursing!

Jon Haws, RN

The power of four simple words - "You CAN do this" - transformed one nursing student's life from the depths of despair to professional success. This remarkable story of resilience and hope centers on Heather, whose journey illustrates the devastating impact of self-doubt and the life-changing effect of support in healthcare education. Her experience resonates deeply with countless nursing students who face similar struggles, making it a powerful testament to the importance of community and perseverance.

Heather's journey began with her return from Iraq in 2008, where she developed PTSD, setting the stage for future challenges. As she pursued her nursing education, the weight of multiple pressures began to mount. She failed her medical-surgical nursing course by an agonizing 0.2%, while simultaneously grappling with a deteriorating marriage and overwhelming feelings of inadequacy as a parent. The combination of academic struggles and personal turmoil created a perfect storm that pushed her to contemplate suicide.

Find hope at NURSING.com