Patient Teaching: Heart Failure
The registered nurse (RN) must be efficient in many roles, including that of teacher, advocate, and care provider. As a care provider it is the registered nurses’ responsibility to provide competent and effective care. The ability to deliver this care is reliant upon the capacity of the RN to think abstractly regarding unfamiliar health issues and medications. Positive patient outcomes are dependent upon the nurses’ ability to consider broad concepts and teach patients procedures to nurture a healthy lifestyle, prevent complications of disease, identify related risk factors, and assist with end of life concerns. The importance of culture, socioeconomic status, age, and gender must also be taken into consideration when planning patient teaching (Ignatavicius, Workman, 2010).
Assessment
The following teaching plan is based on M.M., a 63 year old Hispanic female, admitted after an emergency room visit. She presented with complaints of increasing fatigue, weakness, peripheral edema, and nocturnal diuresis x4. M.M. stated, “I can’t wear my shoes,” and has a feeling of heaviness in her chest. She has a past history of coronary artery disease (CAD). Her blood pressure and respirations are elevated at 140/92, and 24. An IV has been placed in her right forearm of D5W at KVO. Known labs are unremarkable and the results of urinalysis, PT/INR, PTT, chest x-ray, and ECG are not available at this time. It is imperative to find out if a BNP was ordered, this test is specific for congestive heart failure, (CHF). Normal range is