Case Study For Patient Complaining Of Runny Nose And Nasal Congestion
A 73-year-old woman presents today with complaints of runny nose, itchy throat, and occasional nasal congestion, especially on waking in the morning. She recently moved into an independent living center after living in her home for 40 years. The patient states that although she has had these symptoms before, generally, these symptoms appeared in the spring of the year, and she associated the symptoms with seasonal allergies. Because it is winter, she could not identify the trigger of her symptoms.
Chief Complaint: Persistent running nose for 3-week duration, associated itchy throat, and nasal congestion on awakening in the morning.
Vital Signs: Blood pressure (BP) 130/84, temperature 98.6°F, pulse 78, respiratory rate 20. Case Study For Patient Complaining Of Runny Nose And Nasal Congestion
Describe how you would address the patient’s needs and what may be included in your patient-centered treatment plan.
Please include EBP, research studies, and/or reliable electronic sources to support your arguments.
Introduction
Medical care aims to treat the patient in totality. A patient presenting in the hospital is taken through thorough evaluation and examination to establish the primary diagnoses and to predict effective treatment. In addressing the 73-year-old woman with a history of persistent runny nose, itchy throat, and occasional nasal congestion, the medical care approach begins with history taking and physical examination. History taking is based on monitoring the patient’s recent environment, such as moving into an independent living center. Secondly, patient evaluation established changes in the onset of the patient’s symptoms (Bousquet et al., 2020). Therefore, environmental factors are critical to evaluating the patient’s health conditions. Changing seasons setting in winter has prompted the onset of indoor allergens due to her new living environment. Case Study For Patient Complaining Of Runny Nose And Nasal Congestion
Evidence-based practice (EBP) has promoted a medical approach by emphasizing care interventions based on available evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preferences. Patient referral to an allergist is needed to help establish comprehensive allergy testing that could help identify specific triggers. The allergist will help to highlight the efficacy of allergen avoidance strategies in managing allergic rhinitis. Finally, the allergist will help recommend minimizing exposure to allergens such as dust mites, mold, and colds (Zhang et al., 2021). EBP will, therefore, provide a patient-centered care approach.
Administering drugs will help in promoting symptomatic relief. The primary drugs will include non-sedating antihistamines, which have efficacy in relieving allergic rhinitis symptoms. Medication of choice will be based on the patient’s age, potential side effects, and drug interactions. Secondly, the patient will be enrolled in an education program on environmental control measures and medication adherence (Bousquet et al., 2020)Case Study For Patient Complaining Of Runny Nose And Nasal Congestion.
Conclusion
A patient-centered approach involves comprehensive allergy testing and allergen avoidance. Judicious medication management grounded in EBP and research findings helps optimize patient outcomes by relieving the patient from persistent allergic symptoms.
References
Bousquet, J., Anto, J. M., Bachert, C., Baiardini, I., Bosnic-Anticevich, S., Walter Canonica, G., … & Toppila-Salmi, S. (2020). Allergic rhinitis. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 6(1), 95.
Bousquet, J., Schünemann, H. J., Togias, A., Bachert, C., Erhola, M., Hellings, P. W., … & Its Impact on Asthma Working Group. (2020). Next-generation Allergic Rhinitis and Its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) guidelines for allergic rhinitis based on Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) and real-world evidence. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 145(1), 70-80.
Zhang, Y., Lan, F., & Zhang, L. (2021). Advances and highlights in allergic rhinitis. Allergy, 76(11), 3383–3389. Case Study For Patient Complaining Of Runny Nose And Nasal Congestion