W5P- Nursing Illness & Disease Management Across Life Span profile

THE IMPACT OF CHRONIC ILLNESS 1

The Impact of Chronic Illness (Heart Disease and Stroke)

Viviana Torres

NSG 4055 Illness & Disease Management Across Life Span

South University

December 21, 2020

THE IMPACT OF CHRONIC ILLNESS 2

The Impact of Chronic Illness (Heart Disease and Stroke)

B.T. is a 55-year old woman with heart disease and stroke. From an interview conducted

with her, B.T. developed her condition due to her poor lifestyle characterized by a sedentary life

of limited physical activity and consumption of fast food. However, after getting a stroke, she

now eats healthy and engages in considerable amount of physical activity. She also strictly

adheres to her physician’s instructions. So far, her satisfaction levels with the healthcare services

she has received are just above average.

The Support Needs of the Participant

The list below shows the support needs that B.T. requires in order to make her life more

comfortable as she manages her chronic ailments. This list is based on major domains that are

relevant to the specific patient under review and is arranged from the highest priority to the

lowest one.

1. Health: B.T. requires a remote way of keeping in touch with her healthcare provider for

regular checkup, inquiry, and emergency cases. She also requires having a steady supply

of medication to ensure she does not miss any dose.

2. Home living: Considering the chronic nature of her condition, B.T. requires a nurse or

maid to help her out carry out various activities (Cruz et al., 2013).

3. Employment: B.T. needs her workplace to create provisions for her, which will allow her

to work from home. Alternatively, the workplace and job duties can be customized to

meet the needs of a person dealing with chronic illness.

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4. Social living: The people that interact with B.T. should receive basic education on how to

deal with emergency situations involving an individual living with heart disease and

stroke.

Appropriate Interventions of the Professional Caregiver (Nurse)

There are several interventions that nurses can employ to ensure that B.T. is able to

manage and even overcome her chronic condition. First, a nurse should carry out regular follow-

up visits to B.T. after she has already seen her physician (Frich, 2013). The purpose of these

visits is to ensure the B.T. adheres to the physician’s instructions and that she takes her

medication as required. More so, these visits can be used to check the status of B.T. and confirm

if she is making any progress. Any inquiries from the B.T. can be handled by the nurse as well.

Second, the nurse should employ education and sensitization exercises for the B.T. and

the people that she associates with. These exercises can be used to educate one on any first-aid

procedures that can be done whenever B.T. faces a cardiac arrest or stroke incident. More so,

these exercises will reveal the best practices to follow to ensure that B.T. manages her conditions

well. Finally, the nurse should facilitate spiritual healing to the patient (Timmins & Caldeira,

2017). Spiritual care is a vital element of healthcare that aids people in their recovery especially

in patients that face serious illnesses.

How to Implement Objectives of Healthy People 2020 to Increase Wellness

Healthy People 2020 has five objectives to increase the wellness of people suffering from

heart disease and stroke. These objectives are listed below. Under each objective, suggestions are

given on how to implement it to ensure that wellness is increased not only in B.T.’s case, but

among all individuals suffering from the same chronic condition.

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1. Improve cardiovascular health in adults: To improve cardiovascular health, it is vital to

adopt interventions that are aimed at lowering the population’s body mass index, blood

sugar, blood cholesterol, and blood pressure. Such interventions must include strategies

aimed at encouraging people to quit smoking, engage in more physical activities, and eat

healthier diets.

2. Lower stroke-related deaths: To lower these deaths, the interventions to consider are the

ones aimed at increasing people’s physical activity, improving their blood pressure

levels, and ensuring they have healthy diets. Additionally, it is vital to adopt interventions

aimed at raising awareness about the symptoms and signs of stroke, in addition to

enhancing the management stroke victims. These interventions are important in lowering

disability or death cases that are related to stroke.

3. Lower the deaths related to coronary heart disease: Interventions should be aimed at

lowering a person’s risk to developing coronary heart disease. Also, interventions should

be aimed at raising awareness about the symptoms and signs of heart disease, in addition

to enhancing the management heart disease victims

4. Increase the number of adult survivors of stroke who are in a rehabilitation program: The

intervention in this case is to increase the resources given to rehabilitation programs to

ensure that the care given to stroke survivors is of very high quality. This will increase

the chances of survival to the stroke survivors.

5. Increase the number of adult survivors of heart disease who are in a rehabilitation

program: The intervention in this case is to increase the resources given to rehabilitation

programs to ensure that the care given to heart disease survivors is of very high quality.

This will increase the chances of survival to the heart disease survivors.

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Nursing’s Role as an Advocate for Participant Acceptance of Diagnosis and Treatment

There are certain actions that nurses can take to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of

the participant. First, they can aid the participating in making informed decisions. They can help

the patients digest the information given to them by their physicians and help them in making

choices that will aid in the restoration of their health. Second, they can help in making the

participant a priority. For instance, in case the family members of the participant disagree on

various healthcare issues related to B.T., nurses will play a crucial role in ensuring the patient

makes decisions based on her needs rather than that of others. Finally, they can help in being a

resource to the participant. Nurses can play extra roles such as educating the participant on how

best to handle her conditions or even being confidants to the participants on various issues such

as financial constraints since generally, patients feel more at ease interacting with nurses

compared to physicians.

The Impact of the Environment on Patient’s Health

Environmental factors can impact how well B.T. copes with her condition. Such factors

include her diet, physical surroundings, and access to emergency care, among others. These

factors are crucial because they directly affect how B.T. copes with her condition. For instance,

if she has a stroke or a cardiac arrest, it will be crucial that she reaches a medical facility as soon

as possible to receive professional care.

Social Determinants That Impact Care

Social determinants that can affect B.T.’s health include thing like her socioeconomic

status and her social support networks. Her socioeconomic status determine her ability to afford

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and access the best healthcare services possible. Her support networks include the ability of her

friends and family to aid her recovery process effectively.

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References

Cruz, M., Perez, M., Jenaro, C., Flores, N., & Vega, V. (2013). Identification of the support

needs of individuals with severe mental illness using the Supports Intensity Scale. Revista

Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 21(5), 1137-1143.

Frich, L. M. H. (2013). Nursing interventions for patients with chronic conditions. Journal of

Advanced Nursing, 44(2), 137-153.

Healthy People 2020. (2020). Heart disease and stroke. US Department of Health and Human

Services. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/heart-

disease-and-stroke

Timmins, F., & Caldeira, S. (2017). Understanding spirituality and spiritual care in nursing.

Nursing Standard, 31(22).