ACUTE CARE ASSIGNMENT

Introduction

For this assignment I have chosen to use a patient on a Medical Rehab Ward that became acutely unwell very suddenly and was eventually diagnosed with Urinary Sepsis before being transferred to an Acute Medical Ward for further treatment. The purpose of this assignment is to show how I as the nurse, managed the situation in the assessing of the patient from the onset of their symptoms using the Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability framework. The planning and implementing of the care required and evalutaing constantly to ensure that the care provided is working and how I communicated with the relevent medical staff using the ISBAR tool of communication. The timeframe is over a 36 hour period from onset of symptoms to transfer. I will begin by giving a definition of Sepsis, discuss the ABCDE method of assessment and a brief background as to why the patient is in hospital as well as a brief past medical history.

Sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication of a localised infection, can rapidly lead to acute deterioration risking multi-organ failure and death. (Dellinger et al 2008) Sepsis is quite common and it is therefor imperative that every nurse on every ward be aware of the signs and symptoms of Sepsis and the appropriate measures to take to manage it should their patient become Spetic. Having an effective and proven assessment tool such as the ABCDE approach can help assess, treat and therefore improve the outcome for the patient who has become acutely ill (Troels et al 2012)

The patient is a 69 year old female admitted to Rehab ward for management of chronic ulcers stemming from severe lower leg Oedma. This lady is morbidly obese and self caring had become an issue prior to admission. She has a number of health issues, she is Afib, has Hypertension, Non Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus, Congestive