In a typical work day, In the morning when we come in, we meet our instructor at the nursing station and we check the patient assignment board to see which nurses we are working with for the day. Then we follow our nurse to receive report from the night shift nurse about the patients. It was hard for me to understand the language they were using to communicate about the patient medical report. I was happy that I came one hour early to look up my patient profile information so that I will be knowledgeable about my patient past medical history and the reason why the patient is admitted to the hospital. The patient is married, have two children, former smoker for 40 years, and alcohol use (20-30 drinks per week vodka). Based on his social lifestyle, we could conclude why he had stroke and he might be at a high risk for …show more content…
It is reduction in blood flow to the brain. The patient was already stabilized because the event happened three days before my clinical day. Before I entered the patient’s room, I prepared with my clinical instructor what my focus assessment will be and what my main concern should be based on. The focus assessment will be on neurologic function because there is a decreased function on the left side of the brain. I walked into the patient’s room and I introduced myself. I asked the patient to tell me his full name and date of birth. I also asked him who was the president and what year we were in. He was able to answer the questions correctly. He was able to tell me the reason why he was in the hospital. I also asked him if he was having any pain. I had to breakdown the questions because it could be tricky especially if the patient has neurologic deficit. I specifically asked, “Does your head hurt and do you feel your head is spinning? Are you nauseated? Does your stomach ache? Do you feel SOB, Does your chest hurt and do your legs ache? The patient told me he had a headache so I gave him PRN acetaminophen (Tylenol) for the headache and waited few minutes for the medication to kick in before I continue my assessment. After ten minutes, I returned to continue my assessment. I checked if the patient has a good control