A 17-year old patient came into the emergency room with a severe headache, vomiting, and a stiff neck with pain running up his back. During the physical examination, the patient vital signs revealed a temperature of 101F and he seemed to have a hard time concentrating regarding the questions being asked by the attending nurse; also I noticed the patient had several areas of small purplish spots on the skin of his back, thigh, and arm. The young man thought those were from wrestling due to the fact that he is a wrestler at his local high school. In addition, the young man stated that he felt as if he was getting a cold the past few days. The patient does not smoke or drink and had attended a party two days earlier. At a glance, reading my case study, my first thought was that my …show more content…
If this condition is not diagnosed on time and treated promptly it can leave the patient with long-term brain deficiencies and physical disabilities and in worse cases death. I came to the conclusion of the diagnosis of Meningococcal meningitis caused by the microorganism Neisseria meningitidis based not only on facts about signs and symptoms typical of the disease which included fever, headaches, neck pain and stiffness, and the typical purpuric rash that produces the disease but by performing a lumbar puncture also known as a spinal tap, a medical procedure in which a fine needle is inserted in between the vertebrates to reach the spinal canal and collect cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). Paying close attention to the social history given in the case study provided me with clues as well to determine I was in the presence of such disease. Due to the fact, that the patient attended a large gathering celebration party two days before his symptoms; overcrowding conditions is a well-known risk factor for contracting the
Symptoms/Focus: Dr. Andrew Bourgeois at Simi Valley Emergency Room requested an evaluation of client by the Crisis Team for Suicidal Ideation and Grave Disability. Client placed a call to EMS on his own behalf on the evening of 05/14/2017. Client requested to be picked up from in front of a restaurant and taken to Simi Valley Emergency Room due to suicidal ideation with a plan to "cut head with a saw". Client stated to Dr. Bourgeois that his depression had increased over the last 3 days. Client denied drug or alcohol use, but was positive for amphetamine in the hospital toxicology screen. Client had been seen at Simi Valley ER and
On December 1, 2012, a patient by the name of John Dough walks into the medical assistant’s office. The patient is five foot 11 inches tall, currently he is 70 years old and weighs approximately 211 pounds. The patient has no known allergies does not smoke and has a relatively clean health record. After filling out the patient medical history forms, the patient is seen by the doctor. The patient explains to the doctor that lately he has had trouble lifting object he would not normally have trouble with, as well as walking short distances, and being very fatigued. After further examination the patient explains how he recently found a tick on his back and removed it, but now there is a red bullseye on his back. The physician suggests a blood sample be taken and sent to the laboratory. To help with weakness and fatigue he recommends the patient to get a good nights sleep and drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. He also wants the patient to limit medication intake that could contribute to fatigue such as cold and allergy medicines and make sure to finish all daily exercising three to four hours before bed. The patient schedules a check up two weeks later.
Tijanee M became self injurious, without warning she went to her room and placed a blanket over the door jamming the door for entry. Staff immediately attempted to open the door and was unable. Tijanee verbalized continuously she is going to kill herself tonight. The staff was able to gain entry to the Tijanee’s room with the use of the screwdriver. Tijanee was sitting on the floor with a sock tied her neck. Staff was able to provide emotional support and retrieve the sock from Tijanee’s neck. Tijanne began to pick at her recent sores until they were bleeding. Staff used kind gestures and hurdle help to calm Tijanee down. Tijanee was able to exit her room willingly and nursing was called for assessment.
The EB’s case study said the female patient is 50 years old with symptoms of fever, chills, congestion, three weeks of coughing, shortness of breath when walking. The study implies that the patient is now seeking medical advice due to vital signs recording and the noting of decreased breath sounds and wheezing. She denies smoking and not taking any chronic medication.
My disease is Streptococcal pneumonia or pneumonia is caused by the pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. Streptococcus pneumoniae is present in human’s normal flora, which normally doesn’t cause any problems or diseases. Sometimes though when the numbers get too low it can cause diseases or upper respiratory tract problems or infections (Todar, 2008-2012). Pneumonia caused by this pathogen has four stages. The first one is where the lungs fill with fluid. The second stage causes neutrophils and red blood cells to come to the area which are attracted by the pathogen. The third stage has the neutrophils stuffed into the alveoli in the lungs causing little bacteria to be left over. The fourth stage of this disease the remaining residue in the lungs are take out by the macrophages. Aside from these steps pneumonia follows, if the disease should persist further, it can get into the blood causing a systemic reaction resulting in the whole body being affected (Ballough). Some signs and symptoms of this disease are, “fever, malaise, cough, pleuritic chest pain, purulent or blood-tinged sputum” (Henry, 2013). Streptococcal pneumonia is spread through person-to-person contact through aerosol droplets affecting the respiratory tract causing it to get into the human body (Henry, 2013).
Urinary Tract Infection, also known as UTI, occurs in two common locations, the bladder and kidneys. The kidneys are important organs that aid in filtering out waste products from blood and maintaining water distribution throughout the body. The waste products are filtered out via bladder, which is the reason of the bladder being the second site for the infection. A normal human being has two kidneys, one on left and right side, a bean shaped organ, and is located at the back of the abdomen. “Each kidney is about 11.5 cm long, 5-7.5 cm broad, 5 cm thick, and weight about 150 grams” (HealthInfoNet, Paragraph 2). Furthermore, a bacterium named Escherichia coli lives in both the kidneys and the GI tract. E. coli is part of the human body and produces
Due to its tendency to be both a viral and bacterial disease, meningitis can prove difficult to treat. Its dual tendencies also mean that various methods are used to attack the disease. In order to treat meningitis, different aspects of the disease must be discovered first. The type of organism causing the infection, the age of the patient, and the extent of the infection must all be taken into account (WebMD, sec. 8). Any time meningitis is found, immediate treatment with antibiotics is required, and continuation of antibiotic treatment depends on whether a bacteria or a virus is causing th...
Meningitis, it’s an infection in the cerebral spinal fluid and inflammation of the meninges; the three outer layers of the brain. To be more specific, those three layers are called the Dura mater, Arachnoid mater, and the Pia mater. There are three main types of meningitis that will be discussed throughout this paper; viral, bacterial, and fungal. Each form is very similar but they all vary in terms of causative organisms, treatment and severity. Although meningitis is not very common, it can become very severe and always needs to be treated immediately.
At admission, Mollie’s main complaint was right hip pain. She was not oriented to person, place or time, responding with “I don’t know” to questions asked. While the emergency department nurse completed a physical assessment, Molly’s hospital record was retrieved. Molly was discharged from the hospital two weeks ago, having been admitted for dehydration. Her health history was significant for hypertension and diabetes. Her primary care provider and home health care information were included in Mollie’s hospital record, as was her daughter’s contact information. The emergency department performed an x ray to evaluate Mollie’s right hip pain and there was no evidence of a fracture. Per MD order, labs and samples were collected and processed: CBC-diff, CRP, hyperal, blood culture, prealbumin level and urinalysis. Molly was evaluated for sexual assault and the appropriate samples were gathered. The forensic nurse gently scraped material from underneath Mollie’s fingernails. Bruises were measured and age of each bruise was estimated by
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a respiratory tract infection characterized by a violent cough. The violent cough incudes a series of severe uncontrollable coughing, hacking, or whooping. (1) Pertussis is a very contagious disease caused by bacteria named Bordetella pertussis, which is transmitted through fluids from sneezing or coughing around a person’s breathing space. The bacteria release toxins, damage cilia, and cause airways to swell.
As you exit the bus, another passenger next to you starts to cough, and then you hold the handrail as you exit the bus. Since you’re late getting home, you take a shortcut through a field to get home quicker. These three simple acts just exposed you to bacteria, viruses, and insects that could cause illness or even death. Infectious diseases, also known as communicable disease, are spread by germs. Germs are living things that are found in the air, in the soil, and in water. You can be exposed to germs in many ways, including touching, eating, drinking or breathing something that contains a germ. Animal and insect bites can also spread germs.1
Throughout history there have been very dangerous diseases that have been able to single handedly wipe out entire civilizations because there was nothing that we could do about it. Most of the time was because we did not quite understand what was actually happening. But thanks to all of the scientific advancements humans are able to live many more times than previous years. But that doesn’t meant that every human is healthy enough. This means that although we are less prone to die from some infectious diseases, we now have other risk for example not keeping up with a healthy diet is one of the many reasons why there are so many premature deaths. Now if you don’t get treated right away it can get worst the longer you get and sometimes it can also be fatal. One of those is Meningitis which is something very serious that if it doesn’t get treated it can lead to very serious complications in the long run or even death depending on the case. The reason why I chose this one was because when I was in high school I suffered from some...
Sepsis has gained much focus as a major global health problem. Since 2003, an international team of experts came together to form the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC), in the attempts to combat an effectively treat sepsis. Although, diagnostics and protocols have been developed to identify high risk patients, the need for human clinical assessment is still necessary to ensure a proper diagnosis is made and appropriate treatment is initiated in a timely manner. The use of a highly efficient and experienced team, such as, the electronic Intensive Care unit (eICU) could close the gap from diagnosis to treatment.
The swine influenza or swine flu is a respiratory disease in pigs that is caused by the type A influenza viruses. These viruses are referred to as swine flu viruses but scientifically the main virus is called the swine triple reassortant (tr) H1N1 influenza virus. When the viruses infect humans they are called variant viruses. This infection has been caused in humans mainly by the H1N1v virus in the United States. The H1N1 virus originates in animals due to improper conditions and the food they ingest. The virus stays in latency form, thus harmless to the respective animal. The longer the animals survive the more likely the virus is to develop and strengthen making it immune to vaccines. The virus reproduced through the lytic cycle. The virus injects its own nucleic acids into a host cell and then they form a circle in the center of the cell. Rather than copying its own nucleic acids, the cell will copy the viral acids. The copies of viral acids then organize themselves as viruses inside of the cell. The membrane will eventually split leaving the viruses free to infect other cells.
The patient has also been suffering from frequent fevers in the past two months. He has also suffered from frequent headaches but has always taken painkillers (Bloland & Williams, 2003, p. 58). On fevers, the patient has frequently visited a local health clinic that has never done any diagnosis but has given medication, which reduces the fever.