Levels of Prevention and Patient Care

• Study notes are listed below

Levels of Prevention

• Primary prevention promotes healthy habits like diet, exercise, and immunization.
• Secondary prevention involves screening and early detection, such as mammograms and blood pressure checks.
• Tertiary prevention focuses on managing chronic illness, like insulin administration for diabetes.
• Administering insulin is an example of tertiary prevention.

Environmental Elements

• Environmental elements include temperature, ventilation, lighting, noise, odor, and humidity.

Common Reasons for Hospitalization

• Incontinence is a common reason for adults to be hospitalized.

Biological Theories of Aging

• The Free Radical Theory suggests that environmental toxins damage cells.

Isolation Precautions

• Contact precautions should be taken for a patient with MRSA or streptococcus.
• To care for a patient with C. diff, use contact precautions, provide a private room, wash hands with soap and water, wear a protective gown and gloves, and remove PPE in the patient's room.

Vital Signs and Medical Terms

• Bradycardia is the term for a heart rate below 60 bpm.
• Dizziness is a symptom a patient with bradycardia might experience.
• To check for orthostatic hypotension, measure blood pressure while the client is supine.
• If a client's rectal temperature is 35°C, apply a warm blanket.

Nursing Process and Critical Thinking

• Assessment is the first step in the nursing process.
• Analysis is a step of critical thinking.

Ethical Principles

• Nonmaleficence is the ethical principle involving protecting a client's safety and doing no harm.
• When teaching about client confidentiality, reinforce following the Code of Ethics for Nurses.

Patient Care and Safety

• When caring for a client exposed to an unknown chemical, scrub and wash the client.
• To check for pulse deficit, request assistance from a second nurse to check pulses simultaneously.
• The intervention for a patient with presbycusis (age-related hearing loss) is to check for earwax buildup.

Pressure Injuries

• A characteristic of a Stage 2 pressure injury is partial-thickness skin loss with redness.
• An unresponsive client who changes position occasionally is at risk for a pressure injury.

Infection Control

• Incubation (exposure) is the first stage of infection.
• For a patient on droplet precautions, wear a surgical mask when leaving the room.
• When caring for a client with C. diff, wash hands with soap and water.

Documentation and Scope of Practice

• Documentation is important in health records to communicate effectively, collaborate on care decisions, and ensure continuity of care.
• The nurse's scope of practice is the set of skills nurses should be competent in and the practices allowed within their role.

Delegation and Client Care

• A nurse can delegate obtaining a daily weight to an AP (Assistive Personnel).
• Expected physiological changes in older clients include a decrease in body fat.

Nutrition and Older Adults

• Serving three large meals is not recommended for cognitively impaired patients regarding nutrition.

End-of-Life Care

• Cheyne-Stokes respirations are a clinical sign that a patient is close to death.

Other Key Concepts

• The correct action when using an electronic blood pressure monitor is to align the cuff with the brachial artery.
• In a patient with glaucoma, check for increased intraocular pressure affecting the optic nerve.
• Floor rugs, cords, and macular degeneration increase the likelihood of falls for clients.

Study notes covering levels of prevention (primary, secondary, tertiary), environmental elements in healthcare, common reasons for hospitalization, biological theories of aging, and isolation precautions for infections like MRSA and C. diff.