Glasgow Coma Scale

Introduction Shirley Temple is a 75-year-old lady who has presented to her local emergency department complaining of an increased need to urinate as well as pain and burning when urinating. Her husband John has accompanied her, and is concerned as he believes Shirley is “just not herself” and slightly confused. It is assumed that Shirley is suffering from a urinary tract infection and possible Sepsis, warranting further investigation and management. This case study will outline what constitutes…

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder version V, also simply called the DSM-5, is a manual of a written system intended to be used by physiatrists and doctors. The DSM-5 attempts to create categories that different mental disorders can be put in to and describes each disorder to allow the most accurate diagnosis possible. One disorder than can be found in the DSM-5 manual is Mild or Major Neurocognitive Disorder Due to Traumatic Brain Injury. For a brain injury to be…

Intensive Care Unit after a MET call from the ward. He was reviewed by our Registered Medical Officer(RMO).On physical examination , he had mild respiratory distress and could only talk in short sentences. His clinical observations were; GCS 15/15 Glasgow coma scale , Temperature 38c,…

Step 1: Review the ED physician record. Note presenting signs and symptoms, lab values, medical history, and the ED physician’s impression, as well as the reason why the patient is being admitted. Note any diagnostics or procedures performed in the ED. Don’t forget this part of the admission, because you might be using the ED record as the basis for an attending query, such as acute respiratory failure for a dyspneic patient intubated in the ED. Step 2: Look for the physician’s document of the…

Organ donation, and the ethical issues surrounding it, has become a topic of discussion in recent years. Most ethical issues involve patients and family, but it can also affect nurses and physicians. The article Organ Donation after Circulatory Death, the authors highlight the ethical dilemmas of organ donation due to “non-heart beating” death. In such cases the patient must die within 60 minutes after being removed from life support to be eligible for organ donation. With the shortage of…

Non-Emergency Patient Transport (NEPT) evolved from an identified need in the Victorian health care system in the late 1990’s when there was a major reform of the (then) Metropolitan Ambulance Service. The main reason for the reform was that many patients were being delayed in their appointments, as ambulances were being redirected to emergency cases. During the early years of the new century, many lobbied for change, as the service was unregulated. In October 2003 the State Parliament passed…

As the Australian population ages, nurses will play an important role in caring for older adults in the hospital setting. This demographic shift will mean that that nurses will care for adults over 65 more than any other patient group (Van Leuven, 2012). It is important for nurses to take the opportunity to think critically about the specific complex needs of older Australians and ensure they are practicing in a way that is safe, considered best practice and is aimed at bringing the patient back…