Scenario: The Registered Nurse arrives to begin the shift on a busy medical-surg

Question

Scenario: The Registered Nurse arrives to begin the shift on a busy medical-surgical floor and discovers the other RN scheduled to work has called in sick. The patient census is 30. Two unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) have been assigned to the unit. The RN is responsible for administering all patients’ medications during the shift. One of the patients who is very ill requires the use of transmission-based precautions for chicken pox.

The RN approaches the room to administer the medication, notes the sign about the type of transmission-based precaution for this patient and thinks “I don’t need to use the precautions”. The RN enters the patient’s room and hangs the intravenous medication. Upon leaving the RN thinks “See I was only in there less than 5 minutes and no harm done. The greater good is I can get the other medications out to patients that need them now.”

Consider the chain of infection as you prepare a response to this situation.

What are the implications of the RN’s decision about the application of transmission based precautions?

Are there any reasons that support the RN’s action?

Think about risk vs. benefit when formulating your response to the discussion board.

Using the principles of management and delegation, how might the RN have:

Approached the supervisor?

Assigned the staff?

Ensured safe patient outcomes?

Using nursing judgment develop a 3 part nursing diagnosis statement for the patient on isolation which includes one NANDA-I diagnosis, an etiology and the defining characteristics (nursing diagnosis + related to + as evidenced by).

One (1) assessment to validate the nursing diagnosis.

One (1) outcome statement (realistic, measureable and contains a time frame).

In your responses to your peers’ posts provide constructive and insightful comments that go

Explanation / Answer

Chickenpox is transmitted through contact and droplets. If the patient is not under proper containment, the virus may be deposited on the skin surfaces or clothes of the Nurse. The nurse may inhale the droplets

When the Nurse goes to other patients, if she do not sanitize her skin surfaces properly, she may carry the pathogens to others. Moreover, the pathogens deposited on the clothes may disperse in air and can cause potential air borne transmission of the disease

The implications about Nurse’s transmission bases precautions:

The Nurse might have approached the patient with all the necessary care required. She might have used a face mask, put on gloves and necessary clothing to prevent droplets from infecting her

Moreover, the nurse, upon leaving the patient, may discard them off for sterilization so that the chances of spreading the pathogen are rare

She should have sterilized her hands properly before administering medication to other patients

With adequate containment procedures and practices, the Nurse can avoid transmission of infection easily, and that is why, she administered medication to the chickenpox infected person

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse S
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.